Path of Destruction
by Dark One
Summary: Miss Lara Croft goes in search of rare stones that contain powerful magic
1. Modern Irritations

Path of Destruction  
  
Part One: Modern Irritations  
  
The young explorer splashed her way through the underground stream searching for an exit to the underground caverns. She had been traveling for nearly four hours in the same direction and now she was beginning to think she had gone the wrong way.   
The only light that the young lady had seen for quite some time was from the flares she had been carrying. Their light bounced off of the walls with brilliance, reflecting from the small trickles of water that ran downward illuminating the cavern twice as much as normal. The only things not lit up were the rocks underneath the stream which were constantly covered over by sediment that was kicked up by the explorer as she passed by.  
This was indeed an unfortunate circumstance for the woman because of one large stone, which sat directly in her path. As she tramped forward her foot caught the side of the rock throwing her off balance.   
She tumbled forward and splashed down face first into the cool water.  
"Perfect," she cried out as she sat up and began to rub her ankle, "I won't get out of here at all if I break my ankle.   
When she had satisfied herself that she hadn't done any major physical damage the young lady picked herself up and prepared to continue her trek.   
As the explorer stared into the blackness far in front of her she noticed a small twinge of light ahead of her. She trotted forward hoping to see an exit out of the underground dungeon.  
The light grew steadily stronger as she approached. Finally, the light of the flare cut through the darkness and settled on the source of the light. The lady now found herself standing in front of a large golden door. Above it was a small hole allowing one solitary ray of sunlight into the cavern. Off to the right a small box was carved into the wall with a hole in its center.   
Quickly, the explorer reached into her backpack and producing a large golden key slipped it into the hole in the box. She was about to turn the key when she suddenly hesitated. The wall to her right seemed to have a rather strange feature to it. Unlike the others around it this wall had a flat opening in it nearly half way up.  
"No," she said to herself as she examined the opening in the rock. Looking back at the keyhole she smiled slyly. "How clever," laughed the young lady as she crawled into the crevasse. When she was in as best as she could fit she stretched forward and turned the key.  
The golden door gently swung to the side. A moment later the earth began to tremble. As the rumbling grew louder the explorer shifted backward, deeper into the crevasse. Her heart pounded with excitement, as the tremors grew stronger and stronger. When they had reached an apex a large gray boulder rolled through the opening where the golden door had been.  
As it rolled past the young lady stretched out her hand and touched the large rock. Once again she had managed to avoid certain doom.  
"That was almost a disaster," she told herself as she climbed out of the hole and gazed down the corridor into the darkness wondering how far the rock had traveled. "I just hope this is right direction."  
Satisfied that there were no more boulders the young trekker turned her attention to the passage she had just opened. Directly in front of her was a steep sloping ramp that extended upward into darkness.   
On her right was a tunnel that extended onward for a great distance. At the furthest end a small speck of light was visible.   
Once again the lady set off through the cave towards the light. As she traveled forward she noticed that she was now stepping on solid ground. The small stream must have, at some point, moved off in another direction.  
It was nearly two hours later when she finally reached the light. She squinted her eyes as approached the end of the cavern. The corridor curved sharply to the left blocking a large portion of the light however, the remainder was enough to hurt the young lady's eyes.  
Stopping for the moment the woman reached into her backpack and produced a pair of sunglasses.   
The round lenses gleamed bright from the light as the explorer slid the shades on her face.   
With a sigh of relief the young lady stepped around the corner into the light. As she emerged from the cave a tall American man stood nearby holding a rifle.  
"Well, well, well," laughed the man in a Texas accent, "If it ain't the world famous explorer, Miss Lara Croft."  
The young woman drew forth from the shadows as if she were tiger on the prowl. Her dark brown hiking boots crunched the small rocks of the cave as she came into view. She had a slender figure yet muscles were clearly visible through her skin passing rapidly toward her hands and finally disappearing at the end of her wrists underneath two black open fingered gloves.  
Lara's hair, which normally hung radiantly over her forehead, drooped limply over her face. Pieces of dirt and grime that had been picked up along the adventure hung loosely from several individual strands. In back the explorer's locks twisted into a braid that hung down past her light green tank top nearly to the brown khaki shorts that she wore.  
Around the explorer's waist was a black gun belt. It was home to two 9-mm pistols. These were the young lady's favorite weapons. They were light enough to carry anywhere and still packed enough punch to get the job done.  
"Hello Devon," Miss Croft responded in a sarcastic tone, "I didn't think I'd ever have the pleasure of your company again."  
The Texan smiled wryly at the comment. "It'll take more than a herd of wolves to stop me."  
The explorer chuckled silently to herself as she stepped into full view. "That's a pack of wolves," she corrected, "and my instructions were to give the artifact to Drake himself."  
"Things change," retorted the American. Steadying his feet he pointed his rifle at the young lady.  
Lara stared angrily at the man. He stood firmly in front of her only a few feet away with his weapon trained directly on her. Seeing that she was trapped the explorer reached into her backpack and brought forth a large gem.   
It was a perfectly round jewel except for one flat side on which was engraved an image of the Hindu god Shiva. From somewhere within a light blue glow seemed to emanate and surrounded the artifact.  
"Are you pushing the buttons now?" asked Croft holding the gem out for Devon.  
The man reached out and grabbed the stone. "If I was pushing the buttons," he said backing away, "you'd have been buried in a pit of lava by now."   
The young lady smiled sarcastically. She stepped slowly forward forcing the Texan to back up. "Your shoes are untied," she quipped seriously, glancing down.  
Ignorantly, the young man glanced down at his feet. Beside his left shoe sat a very large cobra. It was coiled tightly with only its head hovering above the ground. The snake's hood stood out behind the head warning of danger.   
Devon gasped at the sight. Not wanting to excite the reptile in any way he slid his foot away from the venomous creature ever so slowly attempting to escape the serpent's wrath. It was then that the attack came, not from the snake but from the young lady only a few feet away.  
In his interest to flee the cobra the large Texan lowered the rifle that had been so studiously trained on his captive. It was just the opening that the young lady needed. With the swiftness of an eagle Croft leapt furiously forward planting her shoulder into the man's stomach knocking him to the ground.  
The force of the impact immediately dislodged the artifact from the man's hand. For a moment it soared through the air, gleaming brilliantly in the sun, and then fell solidly to earth. It hit the dirt with a soft thud and began to roll away from both of its potential owners. It would have soon rolled out of site if it had not quickly found the rear tire of the small motorcycle that Devon had rode in on.  
One the jewel had come to a complete stop Croft jumped off her adversary in favor of pursuit.   
She stretched out the length of her body for the prize but was stopped short by Devon who had caught hold of her leg.  
Instantly Lara rolled onto her back and drew her pistols. "Let go," she ordered through clenched teeth.   
The Texan looked around for his rifle only to find that it had flown almost as far as the artifact.   
That being the case, he reluctantly released his grip on his captive. "You is the luckiest one dame I've ever seen."  
The treasure hunter rose to her feet. Backing up to the motorcycle she stowed the gun in her left hand into its holster. Bending down, she picked up the gem and placed it into her backpack.   
Then, moving around to the other side of the bike, the explorer redrew her second weapon once again and trained it on her adversary who was still on the ground.   
Now that she was feeling somewhat more secure she gazed over the landscape around her. A steep incline stretched out over the cave entrance but leveled out beyond it. On the other side the hill became flat stretching out for some distance before abruptly ending in a steep drop.  
The young lady mounted the vehicle beside her. Shooting one last glance at her enemy she secured her weapons and started the motorcycle. It roared viciously as she swung it around and began to traverse the hill before her.   
As soon as her back was turned Devon sprang into action. The large man leapt to his feet and grabbed his rifle. Hastily he took aim at his escaping prisoner and squeezed off two shots. Both narrowly missed their target and splashed into the soft earth.  
Nearly halfway to the top the motor bike finally gave in to the hill's whims. The rider turned sharply to the side to confuse her foe only to discover that the elevation of the incline was more than gravity would allow at such an angle. Thusly, both the motor cycle and rider would have tumbled down the slope at great speed if it were not for the magnificent reflexes of the controller. Just as the vehicle was about to fall flat on its side the driver thrust her foot to the ground and swung the motorbike in the opposite direction.   
She was now looking down the hill at her enemy. He stood ready aiming his shotgun directly in at her. "Last chance Croft," he yelled triumphantly.  
Just then the air grew still as if it were warning of an imminent storm. From the mountains directly ahead, came the sound of some sort of a mechanical engine. It whirled in closer and closer until the ground began to vibrate. Not long after a gleam of silver became visible. As it came closer the sun's glare withdraw revealing its true form, a small helicopter. It streaked across the landscape, made a U-turn, and hovered just off of the edge of the cliff.  
Lara glanced down at the man below her. She had become completely oblivious to him. His attention was now diverted by the chopper. It was as if he were in a trance. After a moment his gun slipped out of his left hand and hung lifelessly in his right. The lady quickly pulled her foot up unrestraining the motorcycle and raced down the hill past the American. The sudden rush woke Devon violently from his daydream returning him fully to reality and immediately he let loose a futile spray of bullets in the direction of the fleeing treasure hunter.   
As before it was to no avail. The escapee was half way down the mountain before the Texan fired his first shot. Coming down toward the cliff, the explorer lifted her feet onto the seat of the speeding vehicle. Her eyes narrowed allowing her to focus only on the task ahead.  
A few seconds later the bike launched its self from the cliff, leaving the safety solid ground behind it. At the same time, the daredevil leapt off of her transport in favor of another form. She flew through the air for a few moments ending up on the landing skids of the hovering helicopter. The explorer quickly turned and flung her legs upward to secure herself. The whirlybird then turned and soared out of view with Devon futilely in pursuit.  
Immediately after it had left the American and the cliffs behind, the helicopter began to descend. It made its way to a field of tall grass. As it soured over the field, Lara released herself from the skids and dropped to the ground landing on her belly. The helicopter then continued forward and landed a few yards in front of her.   
The ex - passenger peered through the tall grass at the chopper wondering whom she was going to have to deal with next. "At least I won't have to deal with Devon any more," she whispered to herself.   
The satisfaction brought on by this statement was only temporary at best for the moment that she had concluded uttering it two of men in very dark business suits stepped out of the helicopter.  
As soon as they had emerged from the flying machine they proceeded forward through the vegetation looking back and forth through the weeds. It was not a search in the traditional manner for the two men did not frantically run hither and thither calling out orders to one another. Instead, they walked casually through the grass talking as if they were simply on a business vacation.  
The treasure seeker remained hidden watching the entire seen through the thick green blades around her. The helicopter was now silent. The pilot appeared to be the only soul aboard. The men, who were now half way between her and the flying machine, stopped and turned to each other to talk more seriously.   
Sensing little danger from the men Lara slowly rose to her feet. "Thanks for the lift," she yelled fixing her weapons on the two men in front of her.   
To her surprise the two gentlemen took very little notice of this remark except to acknowledge that it was said. "Ah, Miss Croft. There you are," replied one of the men in a very posh British accent, "We'll be with you in a moment." Without another word the man turned back to the conversation with his companion.  
The tomb raider was perplexed. Who were these men and what did they need from her? She began to slink closer, her pistols trained on the strangers before her. "Excuse me," she said when she was a little closer, "I don't know who you are or what you want but I am not someone you should just ignore like   
that."  
"Quite right," replied the man who had spoken before, "I apologize. My name is Jonathan Brazen from MI6."  
"And what about you," inquired the lady, still holding her pistols.  
The second man smiled obtusely and extended his hand. "James Thorton, CIA."  
"Forgive me for not shaking hands," answered the young lady staring down at the extended hand, "but I've had some bad dealings with Americans of late."  
The CIA agent raised an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to make an apology on behalf of his countrymen but before he could utter a syllable he was interrupted by his British counterpart. "Our governments urgently need your help," he explained.  
Croft slid her guns back into their holsters then crossed her arms in front of her. "It must have been urgent if you had to pick me up like that," She responded. "Why didn't you just land?"  
"We couldn't take the chance with that maniac down there," Thorton chuckled, "Besides we thought you'd prefer it this way."   
The young lady glared with great annoyance at the man. Realizing that his humor wasn't at all appreciated he briskly dropped the dense smile from his face. "We need to talk to you about the artifact that you have," he continued.  
The renowned explorer dropped her hands to her hips and rested them on top of her pistols.   
"What about it," she asked through clenched teeth.  
"May we see?" asked the Englishman.  
"Not if you want to continue breathing," she retorted.  
"Well then," Brazen continued, "could you tell me if it looks like this?" Reaching into his coat pocket the gentleman produced a small parcel. Placing it into the palm of his hand he carefully unwrapped it revealing a large blue gem.   
Lara quickly pulled off her backpack and removed the artifact. For several minutes she stared back and forth between it and the stone across from her. They were identical in every way except one. The engraved image on the agent's jewel was not of Shiva.   
The explorer slid closer to the second artifact and carefully examined it. The engraving seemed to be some sort of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic but it was unlike anything she had ever seen. "Where did you find this?" the lady asked in astonishment.  
"Cairo," answered the American agent, his dull witted smile returning. "We pulled it off some two - bit archaeologist named Jones. He was apparently-"  
"We believe that these jewels hold special powers," interrupted the other man, "and when they are placed in some secret ceremonial place some sort of evil will be released."  
The treasure hunter looked up at the man in front of her. His face was stern and unwavering. "I thought people in your position didn't believe in such things. Anyway I wouldn't worry too much. You've got one piece and this one is going into a very rich man's private collection."  
"If that rich man is Drake," replied the CIA agent, "then there is something to worry about. He's the one that killed Jones."  
"Quite right," continued the other. He looked deep into the artifact in his hand. Without an ounce of levity or remorse he tossed the jewel onto the ground, "and this is a fake."   
The explorer bent down and picked up the discarded replica. She held it in one hand and the authentic artifact in the other. The resemblance was astounding. For all that the young lady knew, it was as real as the one that she had just recovered. "How do you know it's a fake?" she finally asked.  
"We don't," the American answered, "but Drake obviously did. Jones was trying to pass that one off for the real thing."  
"Hmmm," Croft slipped the original jewel back into her pack and continued to examine the fake.   
"Do they have the Egyptian stone then?"  
Mr. Brazen nodded his head, "We believe so. The operation seems to have left Egypt entirely.   
Unfortunately we seem to have lost track of them."  
Lara slipped the phony stone into her backpack and began to walk toward the helicopter. "They're in Rome," she announced as she strolled past the suited gentlemen.  
"How do you know that," Thorton called after her.  
The lady stopped and turned to face the government agents. "I don't know the legend except that it involves three stones each representing a powerful god, one from India to represent the Hindu god Shiva, one from Egypt representing Osiris, and one from Rome representing Jupiter. The legend also mentions something about the end of the world so perhaps we should get going."  
"Am I then to understand that you will help us Miss Croft?" The Englishman asked smiling for the first time.  
Lara nodded her head decisively.   
"Good," continued the agent, "then when you find the last stone-"  
The young lady walked forward sternly until she was almost touching the nose of the Brit. Her brow drooped low over her eye. "Let's get one thing straight, shall we," she stated very sternly, "I am NOT working for you. I am doing this on my own behalf. Any assistance you offer will be appreciated but I don't need it, and when I recover the artifact I will make the decision about what is to be done with it."  
Both men stared back at the lady for a moment wondering what to say next. Finally, after a few minutes they realized that they had very few options. They nodded to the woman and motioned toward the aircraft.  
As the tomb raider moved away the American's smile grew twice as large as it had been a moment before. "Man, those English ladies are cute."  
Lara Croft moved steadily toward the air transport. After such a trying day she could only think of one thing to say, "I hate Americans"  
  
To be continued…  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. American Pie and an English Rose

Path of Destruction  
  
Part Two: American Pie and an English Rose  
  
The late afternoon sun blazed down over the archeological dig. Workers of many different nationalities scurried here and there with tools and equipment attempting to unlock the secrets of the newly uncovered find which was, in essence, a large hole. The only indication that it was man made at all were the bricks that lined it from bottom to top. More confusing yet was the fact that there was nothing at the bottom except for the bottom. For several days archeologists had studied the structure attempting to unlock its secrets but to no avail.  
Among the many workers who were running hither and thither across the compound slinked Miss   
Lara Croft. She had been loitering near the site for the past two days dressed smartly in a long white dress, a long golden haired wig, and a large brimmed hat posing as a historian from Essex in order to examine the find for herself.   
Slipping through the innumerable workers she made her way to the edge of the newly uncovered pit. Peering down the explorer's mind ran through all of her previous experiences attempting to come to a solution to the mystery. As she gazed onward the nostalgia of her memories seemed to sweep her away into a daydream.  
A moment later the still sweet serenity of the moment was broken by a young American voice, "Good afternoon Miss Croft," it chimed.  
Lara jumped to her feet in surprise pulling herself expediently from her daydream and nearly into the hole that was gazing into. When she had regained her composure the treasure hunter looked around expecting to be surrounded by three or four men with machine guns pointed in her direction. Instead there was only a young boy standing next to her.  
He appeared to be in his teenage years or, at the very least, his early twenties. His short blonde hair curled up on top of his head like a briar patch. The only exception to this was a single strand that stubbornly refused to conform and hung rebelliously down in front of the boy's face almost to the shaft of his mirrored sunglasses. The rest of his persona resembled that of a country western singer right down to the boots, the toes of which was initialed S. B.   
The explorer quickly pulled up the long garment that was disguising her revealing a long thin leg on which was attached a 9 millimeter pistol. "Who are you and how do you know my name," she asked in a very perturbed tone.  
"Take it easy Miss," the boy cried throwing up his hands, "I'm on your side."  
Croft now placed her hand fully on the butt of her weapon. "No one is ever on my side," she answered narrowing her gaze to the man in front of her.  
The mysterious youth gazed from side to side at the number of people roaming in the distance. "Don't you think you should put that away before you attract some unwanted attention," he laughed.  
Total reality suddenly shot back into the imposter historian's memory. Without another word she released her weapon and dropped her skirt back to its correct length. This event did not, however, have the full effect that the American was expecting for while her gun was now secure she continued to glare at him ruthlessly underneath her sunglasses. "I'm only going to ask you this one more time," she continued slowly, "who are you?"  
The kid swallowed hard and inched forward. "My name is Samual Beeman," he whispered, "I'm from the Central Intelligence Agency in America. I've been assigned as your contact here."  
Lara took a step back so that she could fully examine the youth. "You've got to be kidding me," she said pulling off her sunglasses, "surly the Americans aren't that desperate for help."  
"Excuse me," quarried the agent slightly annoyed.  
"You look about fifteen" the explorer answered back sharply.  
"Look you stupid Brit," Beeman returned pointedly, "the last artifact is right under our feet, the entrance is somewhere in that hole, and all you can do is insult me?"  
The treasure seeker gazed once more over the edge of the pit and then back at the man in front of her. "Tell me, did you figure all that out by yourself or did you get your mum to help you?" The agent thrust himself forward preparing to verbally retaliate to the English woman's remarks but before he could reach his second step he was cut off. "Who made you the world famous explorer," she continued placing a hand on the man's chest to hold him back, "This place has been hidden for over one thousand years. No one knows where the artifact is until I find it. Get it?"   
With that she stepped to one side and proceeded on her way. "I can't believe it," she murmured derisively to herself, "I think I'm starting to sound like Von Croy."  
The remainder of the day grew unequivocally tedious. A message had come that financier of the dig, Stanley Drake, would be arriving the next day. As a result most archeological functions were halted in favor of preparing a hurried reception for the gentleman leaving the main find thoroughly unguarded.   
Lara Croft relaxed herself underneath a tent watching the entire camp run curiously from one task to another in hopes that the forthcoming wealthy visitor would extend to them his gratitude in the form of a hefty chunk of currency. To pass the time she would occasionally reach to her left and pick up a steaming cup of tea.   
By the time she had finished this beverage night had fallen. Although it was still early in the evening the announced news and hasty preparation of Drake's visit left very few people out and about. Those who had worked the hardest had staggered to exhausted their tents sometime before and had not been seen or heard from since. A great deal more had managed to discover a vast quantity of liquor inside the surgeon's tent ensuring that their faculties would be quite questionable for the remainder of the evening.  
Seeing that most of the people in the compound were incapacitated in some form or another The fake historian stood up and pulled a long shawl around her body before slowly sauntering out to the pit that she had examined earlier that afternoon. Upon arriving at her destination the explorer once again knelt down beside the small abyss..   
"You going down there," came a voice from behind.  
The treasure hunter slowly turned and peered upward at the person to whom the voice belonged. To her horror the person hovering over her was none other than Sam Beeman. "Oh, it's you again is it," she started in sarcastically, "In case I didn't make myself clear before I don't want or need your help."  
"Are you sure about that," asked the American gazing into the hole, "how are you going to get down there?"  
"I'm going to jump," answered the women emphatically. Then, to drive her point home, Croft turned and leapt headlong into the hole landing on her feet as though she were of the feline persuasion. Here she immediately went to work examining all parts of the structure.  
Beeman stared down the pit in amazement. "Are you all right," he yelled after her.  
"I'm fine," came the answer, "now go away."  
"Are you kidding," said the agent glancing around the camp, "I wouldn't miss this for the world." When he was satisfied that there was no one about he plunged himself into the pit. It was a far less impressive leap than his predecessor had made. It was likely that this action would have been the death of him had it been for her because it was upon her that he landed.  
"What do you think you are doing you little toad," Croft yelled as she pushed the kid off of her. He somersaulted backward once before smacking the brick wall with his head.   
"My orders are to assist you," the young man announced rubbing his head, "and that's exactly what I'm going to do."  
Swishing the dirt from her dress Croft rose to her feet. "Than why didn't you stay up there," she said waving her arm toward the sky. "I ought to-"  
"You ought to what?"  
"Move. Quickly."   
A puzzled looked crossed the American's face. "Move," he inquired, "to where?" Without another word the treasure hunter lunged forward sending Beeman scurrying to the side.   
"It looks like you've helped after all," Lara said setting herself down on one knee, "take a look at this."  
The CIA agent crawled back to his previous position in order to examine the wall. Almost immediately he saw what the explorer had found. The section of the brick wall where his head had landed was pushed inward slightly.   
Bracing herself as best as she could the adventurer pushed on the deformed section as hard as she could. She could feel it moving ever so slightly in front of her. It was enough to curb her suspicions. "This is it," she said happily, "the entrance to the tomb." Hastily, she hauled off her disguise and tossed it into a corner.  
After a great deal of finagling by both parties the obstacle was soon pushed to further backward until it revealed a gaping opening on one side.   
"Excellent," announced the treasure hunter. "Stay here and delay them as much as possible."  
"No way," Beeman responded angrily, "my orders are-"  
"Going to get you killed." Before the American could retort Croft dropped her hands and dislodged her pistols from their holsters. "You're staying," she said sternly, "I work alone." With that the explorer scurried into the dark passage and disappeared from view.   
The next morning the entire camp was aflutter of activity making last minute preparations for Drake's visit. Everything was nearly completed by ten o'clock when a silver sport utility vehicle was sited over the horizon moving toward the base camp. A few moments later it came to a stop next to a large tent where the chief archeologist, was waiting.   
Instantaneously, the back door of the vehicle flew open and its passenger exited. The first was a fairly young man wrapped in a three-piece suit. "What do you think," he asked the passenger who was still in the vehicle.   
The door swung open from the other side. "I don't know Mr. Drake," came a heavy Texas voice, "are you sure this is the right spot?"  
"Have faith Devon," the young man reassured confidently as he slammed the door closed. "In just a amount of time we shall hold the secrets of the universe."  
The Texan closed his door and walked around to the other side followed by Dr. Muselli. "I am so glad you are here, Mr. Drake," announced the archeologist grasping the American's hand, "Would you care to join us inside for some refreshment?"  
The suited gentleman reached into his top pocket and produced a pair of sunglasses. "No, I want to see the find now," he ordered placing the spectacles on his face.   
The archeologist nodded pleasantly. " This way," he instructed walking toward the dig.   
"Good morning Mr. Drake," Agent Beeman said when he saw the man looking down at him. "I think I may have found something."  
Drake smiled vivaciously, "Good work boy. What's your name?"  
"Dr. Antonio Muselli," the CIA operative replied.  
The wealthy American looked over his shoulder and made a gesture with his hand. "Come up here and join us won't you," he invited.   
After several tries Beeman pulled himself clumsily out of the deep pit. "What can I do for you sir," he asked smiling at the gentleman next to him.  
"I'd like you meet a friend of mine," the man said smiling back. "Dr. Muselli, meet Dr. Muselli." With that Drake pointed off into the distance where two men were approaching.   
As they drew closer the fake archeologist realized his mistake. Hastily he turned and leapt into the pit hoping to escape into the ancient structure. Once again the jump was somewhat less than impressive and this time there was no Lara Croft to land on. With a yelp of pain the government agent hit the brick floor turning his ankle sideways under him. Even so he attempted to flee captivity by pulling himself with his arms toward the opening.   
The wealthy American reached methodically into his suit jacket and pulled out a 45 magnum. Raising the gun over his head he fired a warning shot into the air. "Get him out of here and tie down in my tent," he ordered.   
Nearly ten minutes later Sam Beeman found himself setting on the floor of a tent with his arms securely tied behind the central post. The entrance of the domicile was guarded by Devon who sat comfortably in the doorway, shotgun in hand.   
At long last Drake finally entered to confront his captive. His appearance was much less genial than before. For that matter so was his attitude. A very prominent scowl was affixed to the young businessman's face as he stormed over to his prisoner. Without a word he drew his foot back and swiftly planted it into the agent's ankle causing him to shriek in pain. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHO DO YOU WORK FOR," he yelled.  
"The muffin man," Beeman quipped painfully.  
Once again a swift kick was delivered to the injured ankle of the government man. "HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE ENTRANCE?"  
"A little bird told me," the agent joked again. Angrily the rich young boy placed his foot on top of his captive's and began to apply pressure. "Bite me," the former fake archeologist wailed in pain.   
Just then the real Dr. Muselli burst into the room. "Sir, look what we found in the pit." In his hands were the white dress and hat that Croft had shed the night before.  
"They don't look his size," Devon chuckled maliciously.  
Drake shot an evil glance at his sidekick summarily ending the hilarity. "I can only think of one person," he said holding the garment up to check his suspicion. "You should have killed her when you had the chance."  
The Texan opened the chamber on his weapon to reassure himself that it was loaded. "I won't hesitate next time."  
The archeologist looked back and forth between the two gentlemen. "You know who is responsible?"  
"Her name's Croft," the suited fellow explained making his way toward the CIA agent, "she's a wily Brit who was suppose to be dead four days ago." He tossed the clothes on top of the bound mans feet. "And some how she must be working with this man."  
Beeman struggled with his ropes attempting to free himself somehow. It took only seconds of this to prove to himself the effort was futile. "Croft works alone," he finally called out in frustration.   
"We'll see about that," chortled, "Devon, take him down there and either find me Croft or find me the Jewel."  
As the young American's woes grew from bad to a state of extreme horror Lara had made her way to a very large room. Flare in hand she slid her way through the darkness examining the walls and floor for signs of booby traps. When she had reached the far end the explorer came upon a set of gigantic doors. They were made of a brass like substance that seemed to gleam eerily in the light of the flare. In height the doors extended upward into the darkness far past the light that the treasure hunter held in her hand.   
At that moment the light began to flicker intermittently as its life began to expire. Without another thought Croft tossed it aside. It bounced off of the floor and rolled back toward the wall next to one of the massive doors. With its last bit of light the dying flare revealed one final secret. Affixed to the wall near the door was a torch.  
Producing a second source of light the explorer stepped forward to inspect the find in more detail. After a thorough going over by her expert eye Lara reached into her pocket for a lighter. Upon the retrieval of this item she held it close to the torch setting it ablaze. As a matter of symmetry she then turned to find a second torch on the opposite side.   
The light blazed forth from the torches illuminating the entire wall. Just past the corners on the side walls were more torches. When she noticed these the explorer ventured forth and cautiously lit them as well, which revealed others just in the distance. This trend continued steadily until the entire room glowed brightly from the luminosity of the torches.  
Lara now gazed at the room with quiet awe. More specifically, her eyes were set on the contraption winding about the ceiling. Near the top of the room a stone aqueduct protruded from the wall. It ran almost completely around the top of the chamber starting on one side and ending on the other.   
"That's odd," the treasure hunter said to herself gazing at the far wall. In one section above the immense doors the aqueduct turned abruptly from stone into wood and then back into stone again.   
The significance of this discovery confounded her several minutes until she noticed two things. The first was that seemed to be a small cup like dish just below the wooden section. The second discovery was a small, nearly invisible piece of rope that was attached to the timber planks. It moved across the wall and then down finally connecting to a lever.  
Croft moved swiftly across the floor wondering how she could have overlooked such a thing in the first place. In reality the question was nothing more than mute, even to her. She only asked it of herself to justify that its existence now that she did see it.  
When she arrived she wasted no time at all in pulling the lever. It stuck tight as if there was some unnatural force on the other end. A moment before the rope that was attached snapped far above. The lever and what was left of the rope that was fastened to it fell loosely to the ground. This was followed summarily by a lengthy expletive from young lady.  
The treasure hunter distraughtly scanned the room in looking for an alternative to the lever. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. The aqueduct on the wall to the right sported a large hole near the bottom. With no other options at present the explorer picked up the broken contraption at her feet and placed herself directly in front of the pierced aqueduct.   
Starting slowly at first she began to swing the lever around on the rope. When it was flying fast enough she released it. The device soared swiftly though the air finally coming to rest within the aqueduct.   
When it had come to rest Croft pulled the rope backward until the lever trapped itself in the hole. She tugged on the line. Finding it stable the explorer leapt onto the rope and began to climb hand over hand to the top.   
Flinging herself over the top the treasure hunter gazed around her surroundings. On the right the trench disappeared through a small crevasse the wall while on the left it proceeded on across the room. Lara moved on to inspect the mechanism over the large doors.  
Croft moved along the aqueduct swiftly to the far wall. Suddenly the stone structure began to crack under her feet. She stepped backward in shock but to no avail. The structural integrity of the trench was already compromised. The crack extended underneath her feet knocking her off balance. She could feel herself slipping through.   
  
  
To be continued...  



	3. Into the Dungeon

Path of Destruction  
  
Part Three: Into The Dungeon  
  
Lara Croft dangled high above the ground suspended from the lengthy plummet only by the tips of the fingers on her left hand. Just moments before the indoor aqueduct that she had been exploring gave way underneath her. It would have been a quick end to her adventurous lifestyle had the treasure hunter not caught a small notch with in the wall.   
She hastily pulled herself upward placing her feet firmly against the wall. The explorer pushed off of the wall with all her might. She gracefully flew through the air over the deep abyss below her landing carefully on the other side with the ease an Olympic gymnast.   
The tomb raider stood motionless for a moment staring at the rock underneath her feet. To her surprise the structure stood firm below her. She cautiously peered behind her at the gaping hole. A small pile of rubble had formed on the floor far below. "That was too close," she said as she blew a stray hair out of her eyes.  
The aqueduct stretched along in front her like a huge stone drainage gutter. The outer rim stretched up on her left nearly to the explorer's hip. It stood at just the right height that she nearly prevailed upon it for a short sit but considering the condition of the area behind her rejected the proposal and decided instead to continue on her way.  
Moving cautiously the treasure hunter proceeded along the dry aqueduct towards the troublesome wooden section. Each step was planted gently and deliberately so as to not upset the structure's delicate balance once more. The whole journey took nearly an hour to complete and when it was done Miss Croft's normally steady nerves had ever so slightly began to fray.  
Lara gingerly kneeled down and examined the wooden plank before her. To her surprise it had not rotted nearly as much as she thought it should have. More over, there were no signs of damage left by insects either.   
Gazing over the side she could see the rope still attached to the upper portion of the aqueduct. The small cup, however, was almost totally obscured and it was this that the explorer wished to examine.   
Bringing herself back inside the Roman water device she attempted release the wooden section in front of her. This task was attempted in a number of extraordinarily different ways. At first the relic hunter attempted walk across the board hoping it would crack underneath her weight. When that and more scientific methods had failed Croft employed the use of her pistols. Strangely, these did not have the effect that they should have. More specifically they left hardly a mark on their target.   
More perplexed than ever the relic hunter knelt down and began to inspect the piece of lumber even closer. It was now even more obvious than before that the wood that the treasure seeker was dealing with was not to be considered, by any standards, normal. This was further confirmed when the young woman finally resorted to the small lighter in her pocket. For several seconds she held the flame up next to the plank attempting to set it ablaze with no positive results.  
"Well, this is certainly odd," the trekker said to herself, perplexed. The next few minutes were taken up by a great deal of thoughtful consideration on the topic. When she finally came to the obvious conclusion that mere speculation on the subject was useless and although the discovery was quite meritorious her present mission was a matter of a far more pressing nature.   
That being the case Lara traversed the remainder of the aqueduct in the faint hope of detecting some thing or another that would assist in solving her present predicament. To her dismay there was no such discovery. Instead, the ditch was designed to channel the flow of water through a very small crevasse in the wall.   
And so it was that young Miss Croft was left with only one solution to her predicament. It was a solution she did not care for in the least for it involved trusting the ancient structure to hold her weight from below. Never the less the explorer was willing to attempt such a feat and so proceeded on her way.  
A few moments later Lara was hanging from the wooden plank far above the floor. Holding on tightly to the piece of lumber she swung herself forward in an effort to grab the attached rope with her foot. Gracefully, she flung herself forward stretching her leg out to its maximum length placing her foot directly below the rope. The makeshift trapeze artist quickly flipped her foot forward just capturing the rope. But, as she began to swing backward the loosely hanging lariat slipped off.   
Not deterred in the least by this failure she flung herself forward once again and once again the object of her pursuit slipped from her grasp. Holding tightly onto the wooden portion of the aqueduct the explorer endeavored yet again to grasp the line. At last the rope wound its way somewhat securely onto the woman's foot. Steadying herself Lara secured the rope by pulling her feet together. She gently moved her lower section upward. On the other end she released her grip with her left hand. The treasure hunter winched as all of the weight shifted onto her right arm. She reached down with the other and quickly grabbed the line from her suspended legs. As she did her lone support strained under the pressure until it was enough to cause the hanging maiden to let out deep cry.   
Feeling that she may be losing her grip Lara heaved her left hand, rope and all, back onto the platform. This relieved a good deal of the pain in her arms yet the thought of nearly plummeting to the ground began to vex her. Due to that one thought she decided it best to take a momentary furlough from her present activities before continuing on to phase two of her plan.  
This being the decision, Croft pulled herself upward onto the indestructible plank she was hanging on. Here she sat down and relaxed for a moment while she reeled in length of rope that she had just captured. When it had been successfully and totally retrieved, the line was studied thoroughly for defects.   
Special notice was taken of the end where it had snapped before. It was a clean break, almost too clean. It was as though someone had cut through the rope with a knife. The treasure hunter carefully weighed the possibility of this and was soon forced to concede that it was almost impossible. She was the only one in this place. The others would not enter it until morning and then only when their hangovers had eased up enough to allow them to once more be in the presence of sunlight. There was, of course, the option that the line could have been cut two thousand years earlier. This, however, left multiple questions such how and why.  
Fearing that such idle speculation upon the subject would only serve to slow her down the explorer gave up on the mindless pursuit and turned her focus back toward the issue at hand.   
Gripping the rope tightly the armature daredevil stood upright and took a deep breath. She stared down at the stone floor. It stared back ominously as if it were waiting patiently for her, defying her courage and abilities.   
Lara's face became grim and stern as she gathered all of her strength together in preparation for her next task. With out hesitation the young women then leapt off of the precipice. When it had reached its full length the line jerked to a sudden stop. This was followed an instant later by a second jolt as the trap door violently swung open.  
For a moment Croft hung in mid air underneath the aqueduct. She gazed across the room with eagle eyes attempting to discern the result of her exploits. On the opposite side of the room she discovered what she was looking for in a dark corner. A small gap was now visible in the stone floor. From where she was, however, she could not see where it led. Obviously, she would have to get closer.  
Hastily the explorer ascended the rope back to the wooden plank. From there she shimmied upward to the aqueduct and pulled herself up. Wasting no time she sprinted across the aqueduct to the place where she had first entered.   
As she ran her mind was affixed solidly in wonderment about what awaited her in the new chamber. This was so much the case that she nearly forgot about the wide gap that had formed underneath her a short time earlier. It was not until she felt a slight rumbling underneath her did she recall certain previous events at which point the young woman's flight came to a sudden and abrupt halt.  
She stood motionless for what seemed to her like an hour considering the possibilities for her next move. Staring ahead of her she could see the giant hole she had made in the stone structure. Just beyond was the rope and lever that she had used to ascend to the lofty height she now at. This scene drew forth a plan in her head. "Well old girl," she said to herself in preparation, "this will probably kill you but it's than staying here."  
With that she took off once again across the unstable plane. The rock structure crumbled just inches behind her. When she had reached the edge of the original hole Croft leapt into the air just as the final pieces of stone fell to earth depositing herself in the exact situation that she had occupied when she had first made it to the top of the aqueduct.  
The explorer hung for a short time far above the floor grasping tightly with both hands to the small notch in the wall. She was now totally committed to her plan. The stone edifice on her left had now completely disappeared. The only evidence of its existence at all was a large pile of rubble that littered the stone floor. On the other side of her the gap extended for nearly three feet at the end of which was attached the lever and rope.  
Once again she pulled her legs upward underneath her dangling body. She fixed her feet tightly against the wall. The woman took a deep breath and without further ado preformed a backward flip through the air concluding with her clutching tightly to the rope that had caused all of this trouble in the first place.  
Without so much as a pause to collect herself the air born treasure hunter shimmied expeditiously down the rope and sprinted across the room to the new opening in the floor. Staring into it she was confronted by an awesome blackness. It seemed to swell and churn like an ocean storm. Even the glow of the torches, which lit up most of the chamber, did not penetrate the darkness within the pit. Cautiously, Croft ignited a flare and tossed it into the abyss.  
Its flight hardly lasted a moment before bouncing off of a large boulder and rolling down a small embankment. When it had finally come to rest it created a clear visible image of the area around it, which happened to be a rather large cave. The light of the flare extended out as far as it could yet no wall was visible. Beyond that the blackness loomed overwhelmingly in the air.  
Seeing no other course of action Lara courageously hopped through the opening into the cavern. "Which way to go," she asked herself picking up the flare. Her voice seemed to echo far through the cavern. She smiled slightly at the sound. It reminded her a game she used to play with Von Croy in her youth.   
Such reminiscing only lasted a moment, however, for it was far over shadowed by the state of her current mission. Such things would have to wait for another time.   
Leaving her memories behind she turned her attention back toward the cave. She spun completely around holding the flare out in front of her. There was no sign of any clue that would indicate which direction to take. This situation, though not foreign to the explorer was, to say the least, annoying. With the lack any better plan, therefore, she chose a direction at random and heaved the flare in that direction.   
The light whizzed through the dark cave like a firefly until its path was finally interrupted by the ceiling whereupon it fell to earth with a thud. Lara could now see a small portion more of the cavern. The land between her and the far off light appeared to be quiet flat. Stalagmites and stalactites appeared from time to time but nothing else. The floor was coated with a gray sand of some sort that seemed to crunch under the woman's feet.  
Seeing that there was not a great deal of obstacles in her path the young trekker lit a second flare and proceeded forward. By the time she came upon the first flare it had already began to flicker and die. She hardly took notice of this, however, because as she approached it her ears picked up on the faint sound of water moving somewhere far off.   
She moved on through the dark in the direction of the sound hoping that it led her to somewhere useful. Ten minutes later she found herself standing in front of a slow moving river. The light of the flare gleamed brightly off of the water like a Christmas tree. It danced merrily from here to there as the water rippled swiftly over the rocks that lined the bottom of the river.  
As spectacular as the site was it failed to hold the attention of the relic hunter for any length of time. Instead she turned and began to intently follow the river down stream.   
She hadn't gone far, however, before she spotted something that peaked her curiosity. In the furthest light of the explorer's flare a crude ditch could be seen on the opposite side of the waterway. From where she was it didn't appear to be anything special, just a hole in the earth sitting perpendicular to the river. What caught the explorer's eye was space between the water and the empty trench. Just above the water line the very edge of a brick was visible.  
Lara raised an eyebrow. For quite some time she had been wondering if there was any real reason for her to be where she was. Up to this point she had seen only the natural formations in the cave. Now there was a sign that man had influenced the landscape in someway.  
The relic hunter moved to ford the waterway. As the water moved upward over her foot and onto her ankle she felt a chill shoot through her body. Instinctively, she jerked backward removing her submerged appendage from the river.   
The event took the young woman completely by surprise. So much so that she forgot herself and let out an uncharacteristic giggle. The effect of this was a small portion of embarrassment. She was greatly relieved when she realized that she was alone.  
Once she had recollected her wits she placed her foot into the cold water yet again. This time the icy chill did not take her by surprise. Its only adverse effects were the goose bumps that appeared up and down her arms. Within a matter of minutes she had traversed the river.   
As the explorer pulled herself from the arctic like water she gazed down at the protruding brick that she had noticed before. It was her first real clue that she was going in the right direction. Upon further examination she found that the large ditch beyond was the rivers original route. At some point in history someone or something must have changed the course of the waterway.  
Sitting down on the edge of the old waterway the young lady marveled at the site with great awe. She felt privileged to be in the midst of something that no one else had seen in two thousand years. It occurred her that this was the reason that she started raiding tombs.  
It also occurred to her that the last meal she had eaten was her lunch nearly eight hours earlier. Even at that it was by no means anything resembling a real meal, only a small pastry. Just thinking about it caused her stomach to rumble.   
Croft removed her backpack and set it on the ground in front of her. Reaching inside she pulled out a ham sandwich from inside. It wasn't the sort of meal that she would have preferred at the time but she embraced it as though it was the last food that she would partake of.   
Sitting her flare aside she made herself comfortable by pulling her legs up closer to her. She was now set to enjoy her food but before she could consume even a morsel of it she was disturbed by the distant sound of rustling sand. Curious, she put down her sandwich and listened intently. It happened again.  
A wave of curiosity and apprehension washed over the lunching explorer. Within ten seconds everything was packed up and back on her back. Holding a flare in her left hand she drew one her pistols with her right.   
She moved forward quickly and quietly searching for the perpetrator that had disturbed her dinner. The flare's light stretched out in front of her like a blanket pushing back the dark cloud that surrounded her.  
That's when she saw what she was looking for. At the very edge of the light stood the dark figure of a man. It was there only a moment, though, for it promptly ducked back into the darkness when it noticed that it was visible.  
Miss Croft raised an eyebrow at the shadow. She quickly heaved her flare at the dark figure in front of her. Unlike before it flew its total distance and skidded to a halt in the sand catching only a glimpse of the shadow as it scurried away.  
Wasting no time the young lady pulled out a new flare. Gun in hand she pursued the figure through the darkness. By the time she made it to the shadow's last location it had disappeared completely leaving only a flickering flare. Near by was a set of indentations in the sand, which the treasure hunter deduced to be the footprints of her prey.  
The predator trekked forward following the sand prints for what seemed to her like nearly three miles. The entire time she peered out of the corners of her eyes in case the strange figure decided to attack her from the shadows.   
Her fear in this matter came to a head a short time later when the tracks came to a sudden stopped without warning. Confounded, the tracker lifter her flare high into air. It's light stretched over the floor illuminating a great deal more of the cave. Nowhere could she see a second set of footprints.   
Out of Curiosity Lara flung her hand through the space above the last set of prints and back again. As she had suspected the figure was not invisible, which left her with the feeling that she had either crazy because of the surrounding darkness or she was dealing with something unnatural.   
That being the case any normal human's thought process would have been halted then and there resting their conclusion firmly on the former. Miss Lara Croft, however was no ordinary human and, relying on what she had seen in the past, began to contemplate some rather unorthodox scenarios.   
While her mind flew through the possibilities the explorer continued on her way. Not far away she came across the cave wall. Just to the side was a small opening in the rock. She slid around to opening of the crevasse. She gripped her nine millimeter tightly and cocked the hammer back incase the shadowy figure was hiding within.  
Her heart began to pound ferociously inside of her chest. It seemed to echo through the cave like sonar. It beat with such fervor that sweat began to form on its owner's brow and stream down her face. The treasure hunter's eyes narrowed focusing her attention on the hole next to her.  
At length she swung around thrusting her gun forward expecting to be attacked immediately. And she was, from behind. Within seconds the relic hunter found herself face down on the ground. Wasting no time she rolled onto her back just in time to see a flash of metal coming down on her in the flare light. The flash of a sword.  
  
To be continued...  



	4. Yankees Doodling

Path of Destruction  
  
Part Four: Yankees Doodling  
  
The Americans squeezed their way through the small tunnel toward the ancient tomb. It wasn't long before they found the exit, through which, the CIA's agent Samuel Beeman was forcefully tossed. He fell sharply to the ground landing with an extraordinarily loud thump. For a moment he lay motionless unsure of what to do next. His hands were bound in front of his body clasped inside a set of handcuffs. "What are you doing," he finally yelled up at the passage, "you didn't have to push me!"  
"Stop yer bellyaching," Devon replied crawling out of the narrow passage and dropping to the ground.   
Still in considerable pain from the beating he had received earlier at the hands of Stanley Drake Beeman gingerly pulled himself up onto his knees. He felt as though he were a quarterback without an offensive line. The sudden shock of the quick movements in his legs sent intense pain coursing throughout every inch of his body.   
"Can you at least take these off," he groaned attempting to focus his mind elsewhere. As he spoke he held his shackled arms high in the air. This created a distinct pose that would have caused any passer by to undoubtedly draw the conclusion that young Sam was a slave pleading with his master. This assumption would have been further substantiated to the onlooker when Devon, setting his weapon aside for the moment, clasped his hands tightly around the collar of his subordinate and lifted him off of the ground.   
"How stupid you think I am," hollered the master, "I ain't gonna give you a chance to get away."  
"Get away," the agent repeated inquisitively, "where am I going to go? And what do you need me for anyway."  
Strengthening his grip on the young man's collar the Texan pulled his prisoner up from the ground so that they were nose to nose. "You're a hostage," he whispered menacingly, " Just in case Croft gets any wise ideas. Besides, you ought a be grateful yer still breathing." With that the captor relaxed his grip on his prisoner allowing him to drop once again onto the hard stone floor.   
Suddenly it was very clear that any attempt to gain freedom through any sort of verbal banter would most assuredly turn out to be a pointless venture. That being the case the intelligence agent resigned himself to his fate, at least for the moment, and turned his attention to another treacherous task, getting up.   
This was achieved in a very unorthodox fashion that basically consisted of turning himself back onto his knees and then painfully pulling himself upright onto his feet.   
At the same time the already vertical man removed from his pocket a tiny flashlight. Its small beam shot across the room making visible for the first time the area around them.   
They found themselves at the end of a small chamber that presented the appearance of something out of a movie. Six stone pillars stood ominously along the wall extending from the stone floor to the ceiling. Between the two foremost columns at the far end of the room sat a set of steps extending from one side of the room to the other. This opened up onto a small landing at the top where there stood a doorway shrouded in darkness.  
As they traversed the room neither man spoke. The awesome stillness around them provoked thoughts of loneliness and despair while at the same time instilling a sense of wonderment at the stone formations around them.   
These reflections were short lived, however, for upon arriving at the opposite side of the room they noticed a set of footprints etched out in the dust leading up toward the door.  
"She's here," announced Devon almost eagerly when he saw the prints.  
"Was that a surprise to you," Beeman asked from behind. He had been lurking there, ignored by his captor, the entire trip across the chamber.  
The burly Texan now turned his attention back toward his prisoner. In the stillness of the walls around him he had almost forgot he had one. "If you don't shut yer yap," he said realizing once again where he was and what he was doin, "I'll shut for you, permanently."   
The agent grinned sarcastically at the other man. "But then you wouldn't have a hostage would you?"  
With that Devon brought forth from the depths of his gut a primordial grunt before proceeding on his way up the stairs.  
The young man stood back and watched as his rival turned and ascended the stairs. This presented an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Throwing caution to the wind the g-man rushed forward and flung his handcuffed arms around the Texan. He pulled backward hard pulling the large man off balance causing him to tumble backward. There was a loud thud as southerner's head bounced off of the stone floor knocking him half cold.  
The intelligence agent wasted no time in searching his victim for the keys to his handcuffs. In the midst of his search he removed from the man's pocket a small piece of folded parchment.   
Upon spreading out the cloth the American discovered what appeared to a map of some sort. The edges of the fabric were frayed with ware making it flimsy and fragile. In the top left corner of the paper was a set of characters so faded that they nearly did not exist at all.   
He had never seen any such letters before. For several minutes he gazed intently over the letters trying to come to some conclusion as to their meaning. He found none. Instead, he found himself starting blankly at the page. Several times he apprehended his subconscious just moments before it plunged him deep into far off thoughts and daydreams.  
Finally, he resigned himself to the fact that only Lara Croft could decipher the ancient text. Sam refolded the parchment and placed it into his own pocket before continuing his search for the keys to his handcuffs.  
As he thumbed his way through the unconscious man's pockets he heard a slight grumbling sound wafting through the air. Devon was waking up.  
The other man, who was in a more cognizant state, stepped up his effort by turning what was a calm treasure hunt into a severely frantic search. A few seconds later the state of affairs was upgraded once more when the stirring Texan's limbs began to slowly flail about.   
This served as a sign to the young man that his search was about to come to a nasty and abrupt end. Thusly, he abandoned his activities and instead made a hasty beeline for the weapon that had fallen on to the staircase.  
By this time Devon had fully revived from his forced slumber and his faculties, what there were of them, had begun to return. His head ached. It was as though the inside of his skull was under attack by a assemblage of jack hammering pigmies. To make matters worse Sam Beeman was towering above him, still handcuffed but now wielding a very menacing instrument of destruction.  
"I suppose you think yer tough now, eh," the southerner asked hoping to intimidate the young man.   
The g-man stood firm, refusing to move or even blink. He simply stood silently over his former captor with the fires of revenge burning in his eyes.   
"Go on," the Texan urged, "do it."  
"Do what," responded the other uneasily shifting the rifle in his hands.  
"FIRE," Devon yelled out with all the might he could muster.  
The agent stood perplexed. As he stared down at the man below him the fire began to flush away from his eyes. He gripped the weapon tighter in his palms almost afraid that it would escape if he didn't.  
"What are you waitin' fer," the man shouted again, "kill me. Or don't you have the guts?"  
The armed man stood powerless. Everything inside of him told him to squeeze the trigger and end it all right then but something was stopping him. His mind flew in several directions at once trying to decide what action his body should take.   
Meanwhile, the large bear of an American sat up. He stared deep into the eyes of his counterpart who was still deep in the process of making up his mind. "You don't have the guts do you," he mocked.   
The youngster said nothing. He merely stared blankly at the man in front him. His mind was still running on overdrive trying to decide what to do. That was when it hit him. The fact was that he had never actually shot another person.   
"That's what I thought," the other man continued as he rose to his feet. He reached out with lightning fast proficiency snatchin the gun away from the petrified boy. "You get a hold of a gun like this," he chastised, " you best be willing to use it."  
Beeman remained motionless. He stood as if he were a stone statue. He felt all of the power he had a moment before slipping from his grasp. In that moment he was struck by the awesome revelation that perhaps Miss Croft was right about him after all. Maybe he was just a kid.  
"Get moving," came a gruff voice from behind. This was followed by a hard shove that sent the youngster up the stairs and nearly into the passage beyond. But before he could get too far the Texan shoved a small flashlight into his hand and flipped on the switch. "If that light goes out," the southerner threatened, "you go too. Get it?"  
The young man "got it" all too well. Still reeling in disbelief from the previous events he took the flashlight firmly in both hands. Under his breath he persisted in yelling at himself under his breath attempting to ascertain what exactly had happened to him to return him to his previous role of captor. Now, once again, under duress he moved forward into the dark passage followed closely by his subjugator, rifle at the ready.  
As the two men traveled forth deeper into the recesses of the ancient structure they found themselves being inundated by a strange odor. It was reminiscent of the moldy smell one may encounter in cellar of one's grandmother. This, however, brought in a different element. On the back of the wafting odor rode the fowl stench of decay.  
It crept slowly out of the dark corridor like a specter in search of some unsuspecting victim. This was soon to be found in the form of Devon and Mr. Beeman. As the odor entered their lungs, the amateur explorer and his prisoner found themselves engrossed in a fit of coughing and wheezing.   
Despite all of this the two men sallied forth into the bowels of the ancient structure. As they entered the passageway before them the illumination from the small flashlight fell upon a large pile of deceased insects. They had huddled themselves along side the left wall where they had been searching desperately for something or another. In the end they were forced to resign themselves to defeat on the point and subsequently fell dead amidst the others. This, in turn attracted a host of different hexlegged creatures that busied themselves devouring the first ones.  
The entire presentation served to sicken the young man holding the flashlight. From the moment he set eyes on the display he could feel his stomach churning below him. If that were not bad enough his mind now began to work against him as well causing him to wonder what had doomed so many to death and if it was a sign of things to come.   
He did not have time to deliberate on the subject at length, however, for the gentleman to his rear had grown slightly impatient. Thusly, he found himself being heaved forward yet again, this time into one of the many pillars that lined the hall. "Miss Croft isn't going to like the way you're treating me," he bellowed checking his nose for blood.   
Devon seized the boy firmly by the rear of the collar and hulled him backward. "Good," he whispered into the young man's ear, "If she hates it, I love it."  
"Do you have any redeeming qualities at all," Beeman choked.  
The husky Texan smiled wryly as if he knew something that his counterpart didn't. "Ya, I'm crack shot with this rifle."  
The agent swallowed hard. He could almost feel pure malevolence radiating from behind him. It was becoming increasingly apparent that his captor had no intention of releasing him even if he did get what he was after. He would have to escape, but how? His first attempt was nothing less than laughable.   
As he moved forward through the corridor his mind ran wild with horrific thoughts. To his left, the walls were covered in a strange mold like substance not unlike the niter from Edgar Allen Poe's Cask of Amontillado. The mere thought of this sent a cold chill down the kid's spine.  
Nearly half way down the corridor the flashlight beam from fell onto a large formation of rocks at the end of the hall towering before them as if it were Goliath standing over the Israelites. The rubble covered the entire exit of the tunnel except for a small space on the upper left side. Beyond that a mysterious glow spouted forth causing an eerie lumination through out the hall.  
Just above a stream of water flowed gently from the wall. It trickled down on to the debris below reminiscent of a great waterfall. When it finally reached the ground the stream formed a small pool before slipping between the cracks on the stone floor.   
The light from the flashlight seemed to enhance the scene one hundred fold. The water gleamed brilliantly in the artificial beam, far brighter, the men thought, than the sun at high noon. It was so much the case that when the light first reflected off of the water both gentlemen were forced to shield their eyes for a moment.   
Upon the request of the armed gunman the handcuffed agent made a closer examination of the opening atop the rubble pile. At first glance it gave the appearance of being easily crossed. This, however, soon gave way to reality when, upon the demand of his counterpart, the amateur explorer attempted to climb to the other side. While steadying himself for his first step on a small boulder his foot gave way sending the climber, along with a great number of stones, sprawling to the ground.  
For a moment the Texan, who was standing to one side, stood motionless taking in the scene that he had just witnessed. When the whole episode had registered he let out a tremendous outburst of cackling.  
This entertainment was short lived, however, for in his hilarity Devon failed to take notice that one of the free sprawling rocks had landed directly in front of him. In an attempt to add insult to injury he started to lumber forward to chastise the young boy but was soon deterred by unwittingly stepping on the rock that he had failed to notice before causing him to fall off balance nearly landing on his unwilling companion who was still lying on the ground in a state which strongly resembled that of a man who's liquor content had been far exceeded at while earlier.  
"Git to yer feet," yelled the other in very gruff voice, "and git back up there." The mirth that he had been feeling a moment before had vanished without a trace, leaving only the usual grim demeanor that had followed him every since his first run in with Miss Lara Croft.  
The handcuffed agent pulled himself up slowly to his knees and then to his feet. Once again he stepped up to the mountain of stone. "I - I can't," he pleaded still trying to collect himself from the fall, "It's too steep."  
A great scowl of contempt crossed Devon's face. Grabbing the boy's collar he heaved the young man backward into the rock pile.   
With only a return scowl Beeman repositioned himself in front of the rock pile and began to climb yet again. It was soon apparent, however, that the result of the climb would be no more successful than the previous attempt for, as before, the boulder on which he had chosen to steady himself stubbornly refused to comply with his wishes sending him tumbling backward.   
But before he could reach the stone floor a second time his body was intercepted by Devon who promptly shoved the climber forward sending him hard into the rock face. He then proceeded to hold his captive upright until he had cleared the barrier sending the young lad sliding head first down the embankment with great folly to the floor below.   
As he struggled back to his feet Sam was blinded by a brilliantly bright light that surrounded him on all sides. In time, and after a great deal of vigorous rubbing, his visual receptors adjusted from the dark hall that he had been in to the new brightly lit environment he now inhabited; a huge stone room.  
The source of the radiance, he discovered, was a set of six torches that upon the walls, three on either side of him. The edifice directly in front of him supported only two torches one on each side of a very large wooden door that stretched high into the air.  
The glow given off by these flames extended the length and breadth of the room invading every crack and crevasse within the stone floor and walls. The only area that was safe from the intense luminosity was the very top of the room. This area was shielded by a large stone outcropping that extended out from the wall on three sides high above the torches.  
It started high on the left and moved around the corner to a small space over the door on the opposite side of which hung wooden plank. From this angle the agent noticed what the outcropping really was. It was set up in a U shape making it appear as though it was designed for the transport of something., water by his guess. Just below a small cup was attached to the wall.   
On the other side of the gap the outcropping continued on past the next corner moving up along the wall on the right side until it ran into yet another gap. This time, however, the space was created from a collapse of the rocks that made up the structure.  
"She's been here alright," Beeman smiled noticing a makeshift grappling hook dangling from the rocks high above him, "But where did she go?"   
"Now that's the smartest thing I've heard you say," came a voice from behind. Looking over his shoulder the agent saw noticed Devon, rifle in hand, skidding down the rocky embankment like a penguin on ice. "The question is, where is she now?"  
As obvious as it was Beeman suddenly realized that he had not made any sort of investigation into the question at all. Once again he gazed across the room in search of a point where Croft may have escaped the room.   
He finally found it sitting quite prominently in the corner to his left in the form of a pitch-dark hole. He must have missed it completely while trying to discern the nature of the other objects in the room. "It's over here," the agent called back as he moved to investigate the find.  
The Texan, who had finally managed to place himself on his feet once again, lumbered over to his unwilling accomplish. "Well, go on and git down there," he ordered.  
"Just a second," responded the other equipping his flashlight. An instant later a beam of light shot forth from the device landing on a small stick at the base of the hole.  
"She's been here all right," observed the armed man, "that there is one of her flares." A smile not unlike an evil grin slowly crossed his face as if he's life long ambition was about to be fulfilled. Undoubtedly, it was the largest of such things that had ever crossed his lips.  
The young agent, on the other hand, turned to his cohort wearing an expression of bewilderment. "Why doesn't she use a flashlight," he inquired.  
"How should I know," came the response. It was more than enough to make clear that that Devon's trigger finger felt as if it had been incased in poison ivy for a great deal of time.  
That being the case Sam concluded it better not to press the issue. Instead, he dropped to one knee and prepared to descend into the blackness of the pit below him.   
Before he could, however, he was interrupted by the sound of a distant rumble from above. It quickly grew louder and more intense of the next few moments before bursting out into the aqueduct far above in the form of a rapidly moving wall of water.  
It rushed through the stone structure like a freight train before reaching the wide gap where it was forced to succumb to gravity and fell helplessly into the small cup affixed atop the large wooden doors. This was soon followed by another much louder sound in the form of intense creaking.  
The whole ruckus caused both men to abandon their ever so intense search for Miss Lara Croft in favor of their curiosity to the present situation. Moving into the center of the room to better witness the scene both men were confronted by yet another mystery. The huge wooden doors before them started to shudder ever so slowly, then, they opened.  
  
  
To be continued...  



	5. Let the Good Times Roll...or Not

Path of Destruction  
  
Part Five: Let the Good Times Roll...or Not  
  
Miss Lara Croft placed her weapons back into their holsters. She wasn't exactly sure what had just happened except that she had won.  
Striking a flare she knelt down beside the body of the loser to examine it. Much to her surprise it turned out to be human. In fact, it was a man, and a very fit one at that. He bared a striking resemblance in form to a professional wrestler whose physic has yet to achieve the optimum status that the sport requires.  
Even more curious was the garb that clothed him. He was dressed in a uniform that was worn by the ancient Roman guard nearly two thousand years ago.  
"Well, where did you come from," she asked the corpse as she examined his sword. As bladed weapons go it was quite short and at the same time quiet heavy, very much like the ones used centuries before. The light from the flare reflected brightly off of the weapon as she twisted it around in her hand shooting back at her like a laser straight into her eyes.  
It was so bright that she dropped the sword and flare both in favor of her now half blinded eye. At the same time she lost her balance and fell backward onto the cave floor. In the next several minutes Croft sat sprawled out on the ground blinking rapidly in an attempt to restore her vision to its previous condition. This task would have ultimately been achieved in s very short time with hardly any frustration at all had it not been for the fact that her flare's life span had just come to a crashing halt.  
Lara didn't move at all. She sat perfectly still on the cold ground staring into the endless darkness that now surrounded her. It was as though the darkness was calling to her, asking her to join it for all eternity. For some reason, deep in her soul of, the young lady began to feel that this time it might turn out that way.  
There was something extremely odd about everything around her. The seemingly indestructible wooden plank attached to the indoor aqueduct was, in its self, slightly unnerving but now there was a man lying dead in front of her that, to the best of her scientific knowledge, was from the time of Christ. The more she thought about it the more brain began to hurt and despite her truly logical mind she could not help feeling that it was all a bad omen.  
All of these things had helped to move her into a near state of depression. Hoping to alleviate at least a little of the confusing situation that plagued her the explorer removed another flare from her backpack. "I wonder if I'd be happier as a dentist," she quipped to herself as the environment around her suddenly returned to sight.  
Committing herself to the fact that sitting in front of a cadaver would get her no where in her quest Croft turned her attention to the wall just behind her. Upon it was fixed a small hand crank.  
Without a second thought she firmly took hold of the handle that was stuck in the upright position and began to push it forward solidly. It jerked ever so slightly then came to sudden halt nearly sending its operator flying forward into sidewall.   
Croft leaned forward to scrutinize mechanism for the cause of the sudden halt. The lack of usage of two centuries had taken its toll on the device. It was stuck fast in place by a large formation of sediment that had formed around the crank.   
Once again she pushed forward on to the crank with all her might digging her feet into the ground for support. Accompanied by a small crackling sound the lever inched forward ever so slightly encouraging its operator to continue on. All of sudden the small crackling morphed into large explosive pop breaking the sediment into tiny pieces sending the crank handle forward like a bolt of lightning.  
Lara, who was still attached to the device, followed it forward sending herself flying headlong into the adjacent wall. In turn, her head bounced firmly off of the stone splitting her forehead and causing her to discover the cavern floor yet again where a long sigh of frustration and relief passed from her lips.  
Almost immediately there after she returned to her feet only to find that she hadn't moved the lever nearly as much as she had first believed. In fact, it had only shifted about a third of the way around.   
Unaware of her injury the young lady took hold of the crank handle for the third time. As she pushed forward she could still feel a great deal of resistance but nothing like before. It was now within her power to operate the device in the manner of her choosing.  
This was a fortunate circumstance as well for in the midst of her second revolution of the crank she felt a tickling sensation on the edge of her nose. It was only a small sensation at first and easily ignored but as time wore on it seemed to her that it was slowly moving down her face. Finally annoyed by its presence Croft reached up with a single digit to remove the sensation only to find that it was not was not what she first thought it was. Instead of feeling her own smooth skin her finger became incased in a warm flowing liquid. It oozed down onto her nail and around to the other side before dripping to the ground.   
Lara dropped down to one knee to investigate the substance. What she saw in the light of the flare sent her into a momentary daze of confusion. On the rocks below her was a small red pool of blood. Immediately upon noticing it her head began to ache where her injury was. She could feel a slight dizziness taking hold of her.  
Reaching into her backpack she removed a small first aid kit while at the same time positioning herself once again over the body of the dead centurion. His armor shone bright in the glow of the flare creating a very imperfect yet effective mirror. Through the fuzzy image she could make out a long but shallow gash on her forehead running from the to of her bangs on the left to just over her right eye. Steadily, she wiped off the blood that had accumulated over the wound and applied some disinfectant.   
"That ought to do it," she told herself. Returning to the hand crank Croft continued the arduous task of rolling the crank over and over. With each revolution there came a faint scraping sound nearly akin to someone running their fingernails over a blackboard. This continued on for nearly five minutes until the crank suddenly stopped and again refused to move. Far above the scraping sound had been replaced by another noise, running water.  
Curiosity peaked the adventurer dashed vivaciously back to the empty riverbed where she had first encountered the Roman who had attacked her. She half expected the trip to be a wild goose chase but at the moment it was the only logical thing she could think of to do.  
To her surprise the waterway was now diverted into its original path. She was on the right track now. Without hesitation the explorer moved expeditiously along the bank following the rivers new course. Before long she came to the end of the line where it disappeared into a small space in the rock wall.  
Not to be deterred Lara Croft bent down in exploration of the gap through which the river flowed. To her fortune the waterline stood just below the top of the area leaving nearly an inch for breathing. It was enough to convince her that it led somewhere that she needed to be. With that she hastily hopped into the water and dropped to her knees.   
For the second time the icy water flooded around the young lady chilling her to her bones. It didn't make a lot of difference to her, however, since she had her mind on exploring the watery cave. Creeping along on her hands and knees she moved inside.  
What was more was that the tunnel was man made. There was no mystery this time; man had defiantly constructed the tunnel. The walls and ceiling were smooth and the path that the tunnel took seemed to anything less than natural.  
There was, for a long while, nothing more that was particularly special about the passage; it was simply a small, long, corridor filled nearly to the top with ice-like water that flowed over the explorer's shoulders nearly up to her chin. It moved along ahead of he for quiet a while in a fairly straight direction although it seemed to be making a slight veering off to the left and upward.  
As she splashed further along into the tunnel she noticed the water line slowly beginning to rise. What was once around her shoulders was now dripping off the bottom of her chin. It didn't worry in the least for she could always turn back although the possibility wasn't very likely. Rarely had there ever been a situation in all her travels that had caused her to retreat from a situation for fear of her life. Further more, such cases usually resulted in a return to situation after the fact to complete the quest.  
Croft had been moving along steadily now for a while and was just beginning to notice for the first time that the watery passage had been taking her ever so slightly into a circular route. It was a detail that may have gone on unnoticed quiet a bit longer had she not stopped to study what she perceived to be a number of strange markings on the wall.  
Much to her dismay, however, these markings turned out to be nothing more than a few stray bits of mud stuck the side. She rubbed her eyes vigorously with one hand trying to get them to refocus while at the same time muttering intelligibly to herself about eyeglasses.   
As she looked up once again she seemed to notice the direction that she was facing seemed to be a tiny bit different than what she had remembered it being upon entering the hole. Her suspicions were confirmed all the more with the consultation of a compass a golden compass which she removed from the front hip pocket of her shorts.  
The shiny metal gleamed brilliantly as she pulled it out of the muddy water. Not only the gold but the clear liquid that slipped off of the object and fell back into the stream glared brightly like river of pure radiance making its way toward an ocean of sunlight.  
It had been a gift from an old friend after they had shared a particularly difficult adventure together. They had become lost deep in the mountains of Peru and would still be there today had Lara not remembered how to construct a homemade compass.  
Opening the direction finder she stared at the direction finder with a fixed interest as the needle bobbed this was and that. When it finally came to rest the indicator pointed directly toward the large red N at the top of the compass. She had made nearly a quarter turn. Where was this passage heading?  
Just then, far off in front of her came the sound of a low rumbling. It echoed distinctively through the small space bouncing here and there like a rubber ball before entering the young lady's delicately trained ear.  
As soon as she heard it Croft started crawling again, this time at twice the pace that she had been moving at before. While sloshing through the water she attempted to calculate, in her mind, how far off the noise was. Regrettably, however, the intense splashing created by the explorer's haste muffled the sound beyond any reasonable point of auditory sensation. Thusly, she found herself, once again, simply following the long passage in hopes of discovering something new.  
That was when the real trouble began. The flare that she had been carrying suddenly came to the conclusion that it's services were no longer required and without so much as a bye or leave allowed its light to fade into oblivion. Normally, this would be no trouble at all. The spelunker would merely reach back and procure a replacement from her trusty backpack. Things this time, however, were far from anything that could be labeled as normal. The fact was that upon searching her bag no replacement could be found.   
The explorer bit down on her lower lip attempting to manufacture a clue concerning her next course of action. Her thought process, however, was continually disconnected by the nagging thought that she had misplaced her equipment. It was obvious to her that she had supplied herself with more than enough flares and yet she could not dissuade herself from the reality of her predicament.   
There was, of course, the lighter that she was carrying in her pocket but being underwater the wick would be too wet to ignite. Nonetheless she removed it from its watery inhabitation and stuck it between her teeth to dry.  
Now, she began to worry. There was no where to go and nothing to do. Turning around would be fruitless for the cave she had come through first as black as where she was. Nor would proceeding forward be of any use, she reasoned, for fear that she may miss something.  
Even so, this was this was the direction in which she chose to moved. There was no real rhyme or reason for this resolution other than the fact that she needed to decide a course of action and to her going forward was almost always infinitely preferable to retreating especially when her situation would not change either way. It was, therefore, concluded that she should head in the direction in which she had been going to begin with.   
She moved swiftly and diligently down the dark passage toward the sound that had caught her attention moments before. She only hoped that once she located the source of it that she would know what to do with it.  
It wasn't very long before she got a chance to consider the matter. As she worked her way through the dark corridor the sound grew louder in her ears. However, there was a new element now. The rumbling was now augmented by a great deal of loud splashing.  
With one hand pressed up against the wall for guidance Croft pulled herself around a sharp corner. To her surprise the darkness suddenly seemed to be slightly dimmer than before. There was still no light to speak of and she was still engulfed by a total blackness yet the air around her was definitely different.   
Slightly confused by the sudden diffusion of nothingness the explorer backed up to compare the previous corridor to the one she now occupied. It can not be said that this truly proved anything for certain to her for, some time ago her eyes had begun to play tricks on her. In fact, had she not spent the entire time crawling on her hands and knees her entire perspective would have been long gone.  
Although she was enveloped in darkness Croft could see, at least she thought she could see through the dim gloom, the shadow of something moving in front of her. The young lady found herself in the midst of the noise she had been perusing for so long.  
Even so, she was still too blinded to make any sort of positive identification. Instead, she was forced to rely on her remaining four senses. These narrowed themselves down quickly to touch and hearing as the other two proved to completely useless even before an attempt was made to use them.  
The sense of hearing, as you already know had been in use since the last flare went out and was now proving to issue no new information at all leaving only one option, touch. She reached out with one hand toward the shadow that she thought she saw.   
All of a sudden she felt something. It moved upward passing by her hand. Through the wet exterior the explorer could feel its wooden structure as it slid past and then was gone. A moment later it returned and again vanished just as quickly as before.  
Lara pulled her hand back from the contraption to ponder the sensation that she had just received. What could it be? Thinking back on her childhood she remembered a poem about a group of blind men trying to figure out an elephant. It now held a new meaning for her.  
Nearly in desperation she resorted back to the soaked lighter that was still suspended in her mouth. Removing it from the orifice where it had been kept the blind woman rapidly struck the wick hoping for a miracle. Alas, there was none. She was officially stranded inside a sea of black nothingness her path blocked by a mysterious contraption.  
In her frustration the explorer reached for her gun. It was merely an instinctive action but once her hand was on the weapon a nearly ingenious idea penetrated her cranium. Without thinking she drew the pistol and fired it into the hallway behind her. The resulting flash of light that filled the corridor burned the lady's eyes nearly to the point of causing her blindness to carry over into the light.   
Croft immediately threw her free hand over her eyes. "That was stupid," she chastised through the lighter that was still clinched between her teeth. Still, she could not deny that the plan had a certain merit. To that end she went in search of something to protect her vision; her sunglasses.  
Setting them in place she discharged a second round from her 9 millimeter this time in the direction of the strange mechanism in front of her. Although it was only a very short flash and her spectacles impaired her vision it was enough to allow Lara to identify the device before her.  
It was a water wheel. Propelled by some unknown source it scooped up water in several large bucket like containers that extended out from the center of the device. From there it hauled the water up and over to the opposite side where it redeposited the river onto a small ledge that stood slightly above the level that she was on.  
This presented an opportunity that the treasure hunter could not resist. Even if should have it is doubtful that she would not have. The fact was her that her choices were down to staying where she was or taking the risk that she was now considering.  
It took her only a moment to realize this and only a second moment to move into position next to the water wheel. Standing up on her legs as far as she could the spelunker reached into the area in the front of her. She stretched upward as far as she could, searching for any sort of obstruction that would hinder her progress.  
Finding nothing of interested she removed the lighter from her mouth and prepared to act. As soon as she felt next container pass over her hand she firmly took hold of it and pulled herself inside.   
Up through the darkness she went, up and over the water device. A moment later she felt herself turning sideways until, at last, she was released into the custody of the Earth's gravity sending her rolling out of the container and on to the ledge amidst a great deal of water.  
Almost immediately upon hitting solid ground Croft threw herself into a summersault sending her forward out the constant flowing of water and ending with her standing on her feet. She did not, at first, realize that she was standing up and had her legs not started to tingle from the sudden influx of blood rushing into them it is very likely that it would have been a extraordinarily long time before she figured it out.  
Even so, it was not to this that she paying attention for far off in front of her the pitch blackness that still surrounded her was pierced by a very small pinhole of light. It mesmerized her. To actually see real light again seemed like a dream. She could scarcely believe her eyes. It seemed to jump around and dance in front of her like a Russian ballerina almost calling to her.  
For a moment she thought she began to wonder if she was still alive. She was no stranger to the stories of those who had nearly left their mortal visage in favor of a more spiritual existence. Stories about see lights and long tunnels and having their life flash before their eyes.  
It is very possible that had she took enough time to reflect thoroughly on the situation all of this would have extend to her a very philosophical state of mind changing both her religious ideals and her perception of her life and its work. As it was, however, the loud noise emanating from behind her proved to be more than sufficient to wake her from any such trance before she arrived anywhere near the state of any one such as Plato or Socrates.  
All of that having passed through her head Miss Lara Croft decided that it was high time to get herself back on the trail of the artifact. With a diligent heart filled with unceasing determination she stepped forward toward the far off light not realizing, because she was still in a state of near total darkness, that she was stepping onto a very steep and slippery slope.  
  
To be continued...  



	6. A Sore Site for Eyes

Path of Destruction  
  
Part Six: A Sore Site for Eyes  
  
Miss Lara Croft toppled out of the dark passage like a scratched cue ball. She was totally soaked from head to toe from the underground river that she had been following. She was now lying flat on her back staring up at a dark ceiling while her eyes adjusted to the dim light around her wondering where she was now.  
The answer to her query was soon answered when the drenched explorer came back to her senses. As she stood up she was surprised that she was on the aqueduct inside the large room that she had discovered some time earlier. The water that she had been traipsing through a moment ago was now flowing freely past her ankles moved swiftly ahead of her. When it reached the corner it turned to the right and after a short distance fell off of the edge into a small cup just above two large double doors that were now standing wide open.  
Smiling contentedly the young lady crossed her arms in front of her in satisfaction. She had suspected as much but up until now she had been having her doubts. Now that she actually saw the opening below her she was reminded of the inspiration that had gotten her into this business in the first place.  
In a flash she had scurried to the opposite side of the aqueduct toward the makeshift grappling hook that was still hanging where she had left it. Before she could reach it, however, she felt a rumbling underneath her feet. The stone structure that she was standing on began to give way once again and this time she was too far from the rope to jump to safety.  
Stutter stepping backward Croft turned and rushed back the way she had come. As she sprinted back to the gap she could hear the crumbling of the stones behind her falling to the earth quicker and quicker with each step.   
With great speed she turned the corner and in two steps had hurtled herself back onto the opposite side of the aqueduct. Without hesitation she spun around just in time to see the rest of the structure collapse to the ground. All that remained was a small stretch of stone in the far corner with a rope hanging from the side.  
Just then, before she could breath a sigh of relief, she abruptly realized where she was standing; on top of the same type of structure that had just tried to kill her. It was enough to make her slightly nervous on top of which it also occurred to her that she had no way of getting down to the floor below except via a very long drop.   
She was just beginning to chastise herself for following the river instead of backtracking through the cave when she had a wild idea. The large double doors, she noticed, were standing wide open, almost parallel with the edge of the aqueduct. A drop from the top of one of these doors would be far more survivable than from where she presently stood.  
Seeing no other immediate options the explorer flung herself into the air toward the door across from her. For a moment she hung in mid air, free from all the burdens of life nearly forgetting everything she ever knew in favor of this new world. But it was only a fleeting instant. The next thing that she knew she was suspended high above the floor by her arms, which upon grabbing the wooden fixture had been nearly dislocated.   
As it was she was only inflicted by a slight tingling sensation that ran from her shoulders up through her arms to the very tip of her fingers. At first it was only a very small annoying feeling but as the seconds wore on the sensation started to change. Instead of a tingle it now changed to an aching pain as if she was inflicted with some form of arthritis.  
The pain worked on her until the explorer was forced to concede her hold and dropped to the floor. Much to her dismay it was a far lengthier fall than she had estimated. She landed hard on her right ankle twisting it slightly underneath her sending her stumbling backward until she fell to the ground where she slide a little bit further.  
The whole ordeal had only a trivial affect on the young lady. Almost immediately afterward she was back on to her feet. Almost immediately after that she was back on the ground rubbing her injured appendage.  
It was at that point that she noticed what was behind the door. Through the opening to her left came a tidal wave of green the likes of which she had never seen before. The entire room was one big garden filled from one end to the other with numerous varieties of plants and vines that completely covered the floor and most of the walls. Only small patches of brick were visible through the overwhelming greenery to allow torches to be strategically placed through out the room. So thick was the greenery that the very back of the room was totally obscured from vision along with the owner of a pair of eyes peered out cautiously from the foliage.  
Fixed into the ceiling of the garden were several wooden planks lined up side by side and held in place by several small pegs. They were, Croft presumed, for allowing sunlight to enter the room.  
Once again the explorer pulled herself up to her feet this time being careful not to aggravate her ankle. She limped slowly forward into the new area filled with curiosity and fascination.  
Upon entering the newly discovered chamber her eyes instantaneously affixed them selves to a very large fruit tree that stood directly in the middle of the garden. Besides being the only tree the garden it was also the most extraordinary tree that she had ever seen. It wasn't that it was unlike any other tree, quite the contrary; it would have been totally obscured in any nearly any forest region.   
What was actually extraordinary was that there was nothing underneath the tree. Upon close examination of the tree she could find no dried leaves or broken branches or even tiny bits of bark that are usually present underneath such a plant.  
Even more curious was the fact that none of these things were present on the tree its self either. It was as though everything about the plant was perfect, just as if it had come from Eden its self.  
Not even the fruit that hung from the thick healthy branches seemed to be susceptible to those things that affect other trees. They hung thick and ripe and juicy.   
They were unlike any fruit that she had ever seen before. At first sight they appeared to be some sort of genetic mutation for they had the unmistakable shape of a pair yet the outer skin was a bright shiny red such as is the color of apples.  
Intrigued by the produce hanging in front of her and due to the fact that she still had not had anything that could remotely considered a decent meal, Croft plunged her hand amidst the branches and took hold of one of the juicy food. But before she could claim her prize a rather large snake leapt out from where it had been hiding and, without a moment of hesitation, sunk its fangs into the intruder sending it flying backward.  
Lara's heart pounded from the shock as she looked over her hand. In the midst of the black glove on her hand were two tiny holes. Immediately she ripped off the hand covering. Her bare hand was practically unscathed. The bite marks had only resulted in small indentations on the skins surface.  
With a big sigh of relief the young lady stared into the thick foliage in front of her. Behind the thick branches and leaves the faint outline was visible of a serpent slithering around inside the tree. It moved especially close to the fruit nearly embracing each piece as if it were it were a mother protecting its children.  
The prospect was worth an experiment. Slowly and methodically the explorer slid quietly around the tree and waited. When the reptile had disappeared behind the trunk she slowly reached out for a piece of fruit.   
The moment her finger touched it the reptile reappeared sensing immanent peril. Although Croft immediately withdrew her hand from danger it did not deter the serpent from charging, fangs in full view, as if it were a bull in a blood bank. It made its way up the branch to a spot just above the fruit that the human seemed to be interested in. Then, hissing angrily at the infidel, it methodically wrapped its tail around the limb it was on and coiled the remainder of its body around the produce.  
Lara stared at the scene in awe. A theory began to form inside of her brain but she scarcely allowed herself to consider it. As she stared at the nearly perfect tree, and now the whole garden that surrounded it, all she could think of was that she was in paradise. All at once she felt calm, as if the all of the world had started over again. It was as though she was in a trance.   
Just then an unknown assailant attacked her from behind with a heavy metal object knocking her unconscious to the ground.   
It was some time later that she began to emerge from her forced slumber. As her eyes slowly fluttered open the only thing she was cognizant of was the extreme pounding of her head. With the passing of every second it pulsated as though it were a migraine on top of a hangover. The pain made it difficult for her focus on her surrounding however she was able to notice a set of vertical steel bars rolling in front of her making clear that she was in some sort of a cell.  
Just then she felt the warm presence of a hand on her arm accompanied by a faint voice. She was sure that she had heard it somewhere before but due to the intense pulsating within her brain she could not be certain to whom it belonged or, for that matter, what they were saying.  
Using all the strength she could muster Lara rolled her head over to the other side in hoping to identify the person speaking to her. To her dismay, she did. There, kneeling above her and jabbering incoherently was Sam Beeman desperately trying to wake her up.  
He had been there for some time with Devon locked away by people who, as far as they could tell, were ancient Romans. They had attempted several times to explain away the phenomena to one another but since their eyes behold the whole situation they had little room, except in the extreme realms of philosophy, to disagree.  
It was nearly an hour later that Lara Croft entered the cage unconscious and hanging from the arms of two centurions. Ever since then Beeman busied himself by trying to get the young lady to wake up before the Large Texan slumbering in the corner.  
Meanwhile the explorer was becoming more cognizant by the second. She could now make out her being repeated over and over from the Americans mouth.  
"I thought I told you to stay behind," she groaned half jokingly.   
The young man smiled as she spoke. If there was anyone who could rescue him his current situation it was her. Placing his arm underneath hers he helped her over the stone wall where she could sit up. "I didn't have much of a choice," explained, "Devon insisted."  
The tomb raider glared over to the side where the second American was napping. He was stretched out comfortably on the floor with a contented smile glued to his face. At random intervals air escaped from lips creating a sound that resembled a class five tornado.  
She was now very cognizant of her surroundings and although her head continued to throb it was slowing becoming more tolerable. Placing her hand on the shoulder beside her she lifted herself upward to her feet. She was almost back on the ground in the same moment, however, for in her fixation on Devon she forgot to take into account her injured right ankle. Once she had regained her balance she methodically made her way toward the slumbering Texan.  
Lara gazed down at her nemesis. For nearly a year he had plagued her existence. Around every corner he lurked with the intention of doing away with her and all for money. Now it would end. Without an ounce of mercy she placed her right brown hiking boot on the man's throat. Slowly she began to press down gently at first and then harder and harder cutting off his air supply.   
As she pushed down she could feel the pain moving up through her leg. It felt as though her whole leg was on fire yet she continued to choke her adversary.  
"What are you doing," Beeman asked from behind in shock. Croft made no reply to this query except to press down harder on the man's throat. "Stop it," he ordered in a more authoritative voice than before. When she made no answer to his demand he took a step forward hoping to intimidate the would be murderess.  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the young lady cautioned sternly, placing her hand on top of her holstered weapon. "I'm finally going to get rid of this irritation once and for all.  
Just then, either from the constant bickering or from the heavy force upon his neck, Devon woke up. Instinctively he took hold of the offensive appendage and pushed upward as hard as he could sending a new rush of pain into the explorer's leg and throwing her off balance to the ground.  
Immediately her pistols were unsheathed and trained on her adversary. "I think you got my total attention now," huffed the American as he pulled himself upright, "but I don't think your going to shoot me."  
"What makes you say that," she asked pulling back on the hammer of each pistol.  
Devon smiled maliciously. "Because you'd rather see me die in that thar coliseum.   
At that the young lady's weapons were returned to their holsters just as quickly as they had been deployed. "What was that," she asked curiously.  
"Ain't you been paying attention," answered the Texan stunned that the world famous tomb raider was ignorant of the situation.  
"She was knock out when they brought her in," Sam explained leaning backward onto the wall behind him.  
The southerner glared over at the other man as if he a blight on all humanity. "So you saying that you put her up to trying to kill me?"  
Croft returned yet again to her feet chuckling to herself. "As if he would have to," she murmured. "Now, I wonder if one of you gentlemen would be good enough to explain to me what is going on?"  
Begrudgingly, the two Americans relayed to Miss Croft the story of their adventure, as you have already heard it, up to the point where they found themselves in a garden amidst many beautiful and exotic plants. This tale, while basically true, was embellished by both men in hopes of impressing or intimidating the explorer. Neither one accomplished this goal, however, and many was the time that they were interrupted by their audience who reminded them, at times under the threat of violence, to return to the main point of the story.  
And then they came to the important part. That is to say that they finally arrived at the part of the story that answered the lady's question. Even then it took a great deal finagling by both men on several points to arrive at any sort of a consensus.   
In short, the Americans adventure into the garden started very much like Lara's. In the same way, they discovered and were mesmerized by the strange fruit tree in the middle of the chamber. The difference was that instead of a shovel to the back of the head they were forced to contend with two large centurions.  
That is, there were two of them to begin with. Moments after their arrival Devon introduced one of them to his weapon. The other one would have, no doubt, received the same treatment had the gunman not found himself without the luxury of ammunition. What followed was a chase followed by a very short skirmish that ended with both men in a lot of pain but very grateful that they were, for the moment, living beings.  
"...Then they brought us straight here," Beeman concluded the story.   
"Is that all," the explorer asked impatiently as she rose to her feet, "I should have expected as much I suppose. You've stumbled across what could be the world's greatest anthropological find in history and you decide to attack."  
"Speaking of that," the agent interjected, "how come you still have your guns?"  
Croft turned and moved back to the wall where the man was standing. All the time she was smiling. As she traveled across the room she could still feel a bit of pain shooting up her leg. It wasn't any less painful than before but she was ignoring it in favor of the gentleman in front of her. "The reason that I still have my guns," she answered, "is because I wasn't stupid enough to let these people to know they are weapons."  
"Alright, alright," yelled the Texan as he stepped into the little group. He joined; less because he wanted to contribute but out of fear that they might be conspiring against him. "Can we get back to the coliseum?"  
"And how do you know we're going into a coliseum," Lara asked in a voice that could only be described as sassy.  
By this point Sam was beginning to feel a little intimidated by the situation and talking about the impending trip to the arena only served to increase the anxiety. "You see that ramp out there," he explained pointing outside the cell, "a few minutes after they put us in here they pulled out a few other fellows out and sent them up there. We couldn't see anything but there was a lot of cheering and they didn't come back."  
The explorer looked at the American with puzzled eyes. He didn't seem much like a government agent. That is, he didn't act like she thought one would act in this situation. Instead, he seemed nearly petrified with terror. "Are all CIA agents as inefficient as you," she asked half jokingly.  
Beeman stared back with an equally puzzling gaze. "What do you mean inefficient, "he asked quite seriously.   
It was so serious a response, in fact, that it immediately set off an alarm in Croft's mind. She waited for a moment hoping that the next sentence out of the man's mouth would be something along the line of an idea of escape. It never came. Instead there was only silence, silence that stirred up the embers of doubt in her mind.  
These doubts were further substantiated by the Texan's first impression of the news. "CIA," he screeched, "If he's a spy than he's the most spineless one ever saw."  
The young lady gazed at Devon as if were the victim of some sort of learning disability. "Despite the fact that I'm sure you've never seen a CIA agent," she stated turning to Sam, "I can't help but agree that you, Mr. Beeman, are a very poor excuse for one."  
"What are you talking about," replied the other through a slight nervousness.  
"Well," Lara explained, "I would have suspected that any government agent would have no trouble getting out of a spot like this long before I arrived. For that matter, I don't see how it is that Devon is standing here. You did say you had a gun pointed right at him didn't you?"  
The alleged agent's face began to turn red as the anger built up within him. "I didn't see any reason to kill anybody," he answered in near desperation.  
At that the other American moved close into his counterparts face. "Why don't you tell her," he mocked, "its because you're a spineless, yellow, little - "  
"That'll do, Devon," Croft interrupted. She pushed the interloper back and returned her attention to Sam. "Who are you," she asked sternly.  
Her answer was only silence. Beeman could feel his soul begin to stir. It grew hotter and hotter until it finally burst forth from his chest as if it a balloon with a pinhole in it. In desperation he leapt forward grasping for Lara's guns. It was not to be however, for, with the speed and agility of a cat the young explorer took hold of his wrist and proceeded to throw him to the ground behind her. Then, before he could return to his feet the explorer quickly deployed weapons and pointed them in the questionable agents direction.  
Seeing his opportunity for freedom had vanished he conceded himself to his fate. "Alright," he said as he slowly stood up, "you win. I'm not with the CIA."  
  
To be continued...  



	7. Unusual Happenings

Path of Destruction  
  
Part Seven: Unusual Happenings  
  
Miss Lara Croft stood poised to attack. Her pistols stretched out in front of her ready to annihilate their target, Samuel Beeman. The announcement that he was not a CIA agent did not come as any sort of big surprise to her for, after hearing the tale of he and Devon's exploits on her trail, she was inundated by doubts of the fact.  
Meanwhile, Devon stood by waiting for an opportunity to do away with either of the two. As far as he was concerned they were both standing between him and his goal, which meant that they were both expendable. That being the case he decided, for the moment, to ally himself with the lady with the gun. "So, go ahead and shoot him," he ordered impatiently.  
The explorer cocked her head to one side. "Unlike like you," she told the Texan, "I prefer to not to kill every living thing, at least, not right away. And you," she said turning her focus back to the man who was not a CIA agent, "do you mind telling me who you are?"  
The man took a deep breath and gazed around the room trying to ascertain the extent his options. He found two: talk or be shot. It took nearly two tenths of a second to weigh the outcome of each of these and answere. "My name," he began, "is Doctor Samuel Beeman, archeologist."  
Lara raised an eyebrow. "Archeologist," she questioned in disbelief.  
"That's right Miss Croft, we aren't all grave robbers."  
The tomb raider glared evilly at the man. He had just made the mistake of hitting on a very sore spot. For many years people throughout the field had proclaimed her as a person who was not a "real" archeologist. It grated on her nerves every time and now the man in front of her seemed to be among their number. "Grave robber," she snapped, "just because I don't go mucking about in the dirt all day-"  
"Why don't we get back to why this yellow snake is here," Devon interrupted. The squabbling had begun to take its toll on the Texan. A headache, in the form of a miniature migraine had started to move into his skull. He desperately longed for Lara to squeeze back on the triggers of her weapons and dispatch the newly revealed archeologist for good. Her response to the same question just moments before, however, was much less than satisfactory to this desire forcing him to take matters into his own hands. Unfortunately, the only solution he could conceive of was to allow the man to continue to explain his story. "What do you want with Croft," he asked his compatriot menacingly.  
"The same thing you want," he replied, "the jewel."  
Croft shoved her weapons back in their holsters. She realized now that she had to allow him to live on the off chance that he knew something about the artifact that she didn't. "Who sent you," she asked still very seriously.  
"I think I've told enough for now," he stated quite boldly. With his adversary's guns safely tucked away he suddenly felt ten times braver than he had a moment before. He was feeling so courageous, in fact, that he very quickly forgot about the large gentleman to his left. This was soon corrected, however, when the southerner introduced the man's head to the metal bars of the cell.  
"I think you had better look around runt," Devon yelled while pushing himself into the other man's face, "you aint exactly in a position to make the rules."  
Beeman reached into his hip pocket and removed a small folded piece of parchment. "You've got a lot of room to talk," he groaned still reeling the attack. He held the paper up out for all to see, "You weren't down here just to find Miss Croft?"  
Seeing his property in the hands of another person Devon lunged forward in an attempt to retrieve it. The other pulled back quickly just in time to avoid the assault. At the same time Lara moved behind him and took hold of the coveted object and was pulling it from his hand.  
"Where did you get this," she asked as she scanned the parchment.  
The archeologist flung around in shock at losing his treasure. "I got it off of him," he responded pointing at the Texan.  
Without even glancing at either of the two men the explorer looked over the characters imprinted on the parchment. "This is certainly interesting," she said after a moment, "Apparently the next stop after all the jewels are located is somewhere in Israel."  
Devon's face turned into its usual expression of malevolence as she spoke. It was exactly what he wanted to hear. "Thank you very much Miss Croft," he said smiling evil, "I was going to have that translated later on but now it looks like I won't need to go to the trouble."  
"True enough," Lara agreed as she folded the parchment in half and placed it into her pocket, "but I'm afraid it's not going to do you any good. Where is the stone from Egypt?"  
The American stared back at her as if she where the victim of some form mentally illness. "I ain't got it," he told her. "Some goofy CIA agent got a hold of it," here he glanced to the side toward Sam, "A real CIA agent that is."  
At that Lara's face contorted its self into a very wide smile, a smile that slowly transfigured its self into the form of a slightly maniacal chuckle. It was enough to make both men very nervous. Then, in the next moment, their anxiety was turned to unimagined fear as the explorer reached into her backpack and removed a large blue gem. "You mean like this one," she inquired holding it out for all to see.   
Devon stared on in confused wonderment. He wasn't sure how it had happened but at last two of the three artifacts were within his grasp with the third very close by. That is, until Mr. Beeman opened his mouth. "It's a fake," observed the archeologist arrogantly.  
"So, you knew the late Dr. Jones did you," asked the young lady knowingly. The young man's arrogance suddenly dropped as if it were a cartoon anvil. He had just given away too much information and both he and his female counterpart knew it.   
The only person that did not seem to grab the significance of the statement was the Texan who was very much more concerned with the fact that the stone was bogus. "What do you mean it's a fake," he groused.  
"I worked with him," the young man told Lara. He was now in mode somewhat resembling shop talk making him totally oblivious to the other man or anything he had to say.   
Croft, on the other hand, was now simply ignoring him for the shear pleasure of it. "So do you have the other one," she inquired curiously.  
"Yeah, where is it," reiterated the fifth wheel not yet realizing that he had been temporarily excommunicated from the group.  
"It's secure," answered the archeologist.  
Still not understanding that he had been removed from the conversation some time ago the southerner pushed himself in yet again. "That ain't what she asked," he said trying to intimidate his countryman.  
In an attempt to drive home the point that the American's opinions were of no practical use to the conversation Croft stepped directly between he and the other man. "Now let's see," she said once she had sufficiently removed the outsider, "what do these three stones have in common?"  
It was question that was very much worth considering, especially now that they were faced with the fact that they all had something to do with Israel. It was very probable that such a question and most certainly would have led to a very philosophical and enlightening debate between the two collegues had not Devon interrupted.  
Over the past few minutes his ire had been building up. He was finally aware that he was being ignored and he wasn't going to allow it to continue any further. To rectify the situation he pushed himself back in front of the explorer. "Look, you varmints," he yelled, "since you're all suppose to be such experts bout all this why don't figure us a way out."  
Sam looked the Texan directly in the eye. He was now very irritated with the man's incessant interruptions and mindless drivel. His mind raced through a thousand different ways to answer the question but he could not bring his self to say any of them. Meanwhile, the southerner's face started to bend into an expression of evil that sent shivers down the archeologist's spine. He was beginning to feel backed into a mental corner. "I should have killed you when I had the chance," he sneered.  
Sensing trouble, Lara once again stepped between the two men. "Would the two of you kindly shut up," she ordered, "We have more pressing concerns now than getting out of here."  
"Like what," Devon scoffed sarcastically.  
The explorer lifted an eyebrow. "Like him," she said pointing at the iron bars. As the men turned to look behind them they were shocked to see a Roman Centurion gazing at them from behind the bars. He looked somewhat like the other soldier that Lara had encountered earlier in the cave except he was somewhat younger.  
He stared intently at the trio as if they were animals in a zoo. Never before had he, or anyone in his society for that matter, encountered such strange people whose clothes and language and adornments were so vastly different. It was only too bad that they were intruders and had to be executed.  
Just then a second soldier appeared behind him and began, for some reason or another, to verbally abuse him. "What are they saying," Devon asked casting an eye in Lara's direction.  
The explorer cocked her head to one side hoping to catch the gist of the exchange, but, while she was well versed in the Latin language the best that she could do was to pick out the spare word or phrase. "Its no good," she finally conceded, "They seem to have developed a dialect unlike anything I've ever come across."  
"What about you Mr. Archeologist," roared the Texan mockingly to the other.   
Beeman, who had been listening just as long as his female colleague shook his head in defeat. "All I can get are bits and pieces and I'm even guessing about some of those."  
Croft crossed her arms in front of her and leaned back onto one foot. "Well whatever they are saying I'd guess that it all boils down to one thing. We're about to find out if you're right about that coliseum.  
At that very moment while still in the midst of the verbal attack a third guard entered onto the scene brandishing his drawn sword. Immediately, the other two unsheathed their weapons and prepared to open the cell. They then arranged themselves into an arch blocking off part of the passage in case one of the prisoners decided to make a break for it.  
When they had properly organized themselves the guard closest to the cell pulled out a long iron key, inserted it into the lock, and turned. As he swung the door open the outsiders backed up and prepared themselves for anything that might come their way. To their surprise, however, they simply stared into the cell as if they were waiting for something.   
This was the scene for several seconds, each party staring across the room at the other attempting to discern their intentions. Finally, the first centurion came to the realization that simply opening the door was not going to be enough to get the prisoners to out of the cell so he began to bark out orders as if he was sure that they could understand him. Strangely enough this seemed to have the desired effect for, when they saw that they were not about to be the victims of an assault they came to the conclusion that the only other thing left to do was to leave the cell and follow their captors.  
Cautiously, they moved out of the cell still half expecting to be sliced to ribbons by the sharp instruments in the hands of the guards. Lara could now see for the first time what she had missed by being unconscious before. She was standing on a long ramp amidst a narrow corridor that sloped downward past the Romans and around a corner.   
Ahead of her the ramp proceed upward toward a set of very ominous looking wooden double doors. They had been constructed very quickly and unprofessionally in the beginning and now that time had taken its toll on them they were showing the signs of rot. Many of the boards were cracked with small holes were pieces had already come loose and fallen to the floor. Through these gaps in the wood snuck several rays of light from the room beyond. It was truly a miracle that they were still attached to their hinges.  
As the three explorers moved up the ramp toward the mysterious doors Croft stroked the butt of her weapon. She was feeling an insatiable desire to pull them out and shoot her way to freedom. At the same time she knew that there was a reason for these people to be here and she didn't want to ruin her opportunity to find out.  
Still, she was very nervous about the whole situation that lay ahead of her and her companions. "Let me go first," she said pushing her way in front of the other two, "I'm armed."  
Devon chuckled slightly to himself in an attempt to relieve some tension. "What was that you said before about destroying the greatest anthropological find of the century," he mocked.  
Lara cocked her head to one side. "How would like a belt right in the cakehole," responded the tomb raider.  
When they reached the doors they stopped while the guards repositioned themselves. Two moved to the side of each door while the third stayed behind to watch on the prisoners. When they were ready the centurion in the back said something to which the others responded by opening the doors.  
As the doors slowly swung open the three prisoners could now see what that they were correct in their assumptions. There before them stood a huge arena. It was bigger in area than any sports stadium that had ever been constructed. It rolled around in a complete circle presenting an air of ominous fear that lurked in the hearts of everyone who saw it.  
Even so Miss Lara Croft was fascinated by it for the top of it was constructed unlike any thing she had ever read about. There were no seats around the edge to treat the citizens in the bloody sport. Above the area floor the rock ceiling sloped acutely down connecting to the side of the arena in the place of any spectators.  
The sides of the arena were dotted all the way around by several burning torches. They hung out from the wall as if they were meant to be traps, designed to set ablaze anyone who may get too close. Between each of these stood a wooden door not entirely dissimilar to the one that had just been opened in front of the three prisoners.   
Despite all of this there was at least one witness to the carnage for out of the rock face across the arena protruded an elaborate box. The sides were decorated beautifully with shiny brass designs etched into the wood. They started at the top on each side and moved downward coiling around themselves repeatedly until they reached the very bottom and could go no further. This, the explorer concluded, must be a place for the governor or other high up official to watch from.  
In the several seconds that were spent to take all of this in the patience of the guards, who were standing behind the trio, soon waned. Brandishing their swords threateningly they pushed the motley crew into the ring and swiftly slammed the doors behind them.  
"Now what," Devon asked scrutinizing the area around them for danger. He was feeling very lost at the moment with out the protection of his shotgun. On top of this, all of his hopes of survival rested on the nine millimeter pistols that were still nestled securely around the waist of the woman that he been trying to kill for some time and who had recently tried to kill him.  
Croft glanced behind her to make sure that she knew where her two companions were. Something was about to happen and she intended to be ready for it. Clutching her pistols in each hand she scanned the room preparing herself to draw expediently and kill any one or anything that might emerge from any of the wooden doors that surrounded them. As her heart started to beat faster and faster she could feel the effects of the adrenalin as it began to course through her veins. She seemed to slip into a trance forgetting everything around her except the numerous entryways surrounding her.  
"This kind of reminds," Beeman quipped trying to cover his fear, "of a video game I use to play when I was kid."  
The ridiculousness of this statement that had it been uttered under any normal circumstances the Texan would have cold cocked the archeologist without a second thought. As it was, however, it only served to confuzzle him to the point that the only thing that he could think to say was, "This ain't no video game."  
"Steady gentlemen," Croft instructed without moving an inch, "just stay behind me."  
Sam glanced around nervously thinking that perhaps he had missed something. "You talk like you've been in a coliseum before."  
The explorer smiled knowingly. She was just about to explain about her adventures at St. Francis Folly when the wooden doors all around the arena began to slowly open revealing the opponent for the upcoming competition.  
  
  
To be continued...  



	8. Back to Business

Path of Destruction  
  
Part Eight: Back to Business  
  
Miss Lara Croft stood in the middle of a huge coliseum clutching tightly onto the butts of her holstered pistols ready for battle. Just behind her Samuel Beeman along with Devon prepared themselves as well for the coming onslaught.  
For several minutes not one of them moved or even breathed. They stood completely still as if they were frightened rabbits under the watchful eye of a large beast. Such was the wait that they began to wonder if there was actually going to be any sort of attack at all. That was when it came.  
Slowly the door across the arena began to open revealing a shadowed figure lurking within. As it stepped forward into the light it was painfully obvious to everyone that they were faced with a legendary Roman gladiator.  
He was very large muscular man ever so much more than anyone they had seen thus far and was covered from head to toe with armor. In his right hand he tightly clutched the handle of a morning star while he business end swung loosely by the side of his leg nearly knocking into his kneecap with every step. When he had reached the center of the arena the gladiator came to a stop. After that he simply stood menacingly staring down at his opponents.   
As soon as he had set himself in place he was followed by a second man and then a third and a fourth. This continued on until, at last, there were six of them standing motionless in the center of the coliseum gazing down at Lara and her companions. Each wielded a deadly weapon ranging from the morning star that the first man carried to spears and swords.  
When they had finally assembled themselves they began to slowly move forward as if they were the Los Angeles Police Department trying to subdue a riot. Croft merely stood poised with her hands on her guns.  
This made the Americans more nervous than ever. Not only were they not armed in anyway the person that was seemed to have decided that it was too much of a bother to use her weapons. "Miss Croft, you know you can shoot them anytime," stuttered the archeologist.  
The young lady didn't hear a word of it. She was too focused on the advancing bandits to notice anything else. With each step the enemy took she gripped down on the handles of the nine-millimeter pistols around her waist. She could feel a strange heat begin to form over her brow. A single tiny drop of perspiration started to form near the base of her scalp. It rolled deliberately down her face until it reached the end of the explorer's nose. From there it departed from her face falling to the ground where it was immediately observed by the dry dirt. By then the enemy had come nearly half the distance to the three intruders. That was when she finally struck. Like lightning the explorer's weapons were deployed and two shots rang out.   
To the surprise of the advancing gladiators one of their own fell to the ground dead as a doornail from some unknown force halting them in their tracks bewildered at the power they had just seen. Their first instinct was to run but they knew they had to overcome whatever evil magic this was for the good of all.  
Once again they began to charge moving somewhat faster now. This time Lara did not hesitate. "Stay well back," she warned the two unarmed gentlemen behind her. Then, at full speed, she plunged herself headlong toward her advancing foes. They pulled back their weapons ready to strike but the attacking tomb raider had already taken out a second just before leaping over the heads of the lot of them.   
She landed behind them and somersaulted back to her feet before taking out yet another with a volley of bullets. The remaining attackers now stood very still. Not only was this woman capable some sort of evil magic but she was more agile than anyone they had ever seen. It was starting to appear to them that she was a goddess.  
On the other side of the arena the Yankees stood very much in shock as well. The odds that anyone could survive a one on six encounter where, at least according to them, were astronomical. And now that they saw that the odds were even they started to feel very confident about themselves. The extreme fear that they had felt before had fled like a mouse in a cat farm and now they were intent on being noble and helping the woman.  
Taking advantage of the gladiator's immense focus on the lady Sam and Devon crept forward toward one of the slain men. The Texan, who was undoubtedly the braver of the two bent down and picked up the sword lying nearby. Then, with as much stealth as he could manage and much to the dismay of Lara Croft, who was watching the whole thing, he moved himself right behind one of the enemies and plunged the weapon deep into his back.  
The gladiator fell lifelessly to the ground from wound but as he did the other two whirled around to face their new attacker. As they did so one them was cut down swiftly by the young lady 's pistols while the other found himself the victim of a lucky blow from the sword that was still lodged in Devon's hand.  
"That was a stupid thing to do," Croft said yelling at Devon, "you could have gotten yourself killed, not to mention me."  
The American, rather than dignifying the lady's statement with any sort of response turned his attention to the doors where they had first entered the arena fully intending to walk straight back to the garden where they had first entered. As he approached, however, he sensed that something wasn't quite right. Through the cracks in wood he should have been able to see portions of the path just beyond that they had come up only minutes before.  
Upon closer examination the reason for this soon became painfully obvious. Using his newly acquired weapon, the American forced open wooden doors revealing that the passageway was blocked off completely by a giant stone cube that had been placed in front of the door.  
"Well I didn't expect to see that," cried Lara from across the arena. Her curiosity peaked once again she wasted little time in making her way toward the obstruction. Upon reaching it she immediately dropped to one knee and set to work on a more intensive assessment of the situation.  
What she found did not inspire a lot of confidence about their future. Not only was their escape blocked but the sides of the large block appeared to be fused somehow to the wall around it. On a hunch Croft immediately sprung up and made a run for one of the other doors around the arena. There she found that, like the first one, it was sealed. The same was true for all the other doors around the coliseum. Even the passage where the gladiators entered was now mysteriously blocked.  
"So now what," Beeman asked running up to the explorer half in a panic.  
"We wait," she replied without so much as an eye blink, "they've got a trick up their sleeve.  
"Now that's a good idea," mocked Devon as he approached, "lets starve ourselves to death.  
The young lady rolled her back into her head. "Do you actually think they would put us in here just to starve us? They could have done that back in their cell."   
No sooner had she said this than the "trick up their sleeves" was revealed. Out of an unseen ledge high above them came a sudden gush of water ejecting its self from the wall with great force as if it were a giant fire hydrant.   
  
It fell to the ground indenting the dirt floor with a thunderous splat. This was followed soon after by another geyser on the opposite side of the arena. A third appeared in the wall between the two just over the ornamented box and a forth on the wall facing it. The sound of each of these splattering in unison onto the dirt below echoed through the whole arena.   
  
"That's not good," remarked the young archeologist hoping to curb to the terror that had suddenly entranced him. "What are we going to do now?"  
Croft moved cautiously toward the first of the huge waterfalls crashing into the arena but stopped short before she got too close. She could tell that the force of the falling water while not extraordinarily powerful was still strong enough to do damage to whomever ventured too close. That being the case she immediately swung around to face the archeologist whose fear had been growing steadily ever since the whole adventure had begun. "As I said before," she reiterated, "we wait."  
"Wait fer what," interjected the large Texan, "my boots are already wet and I'd prefer to be out of here before the water gets up to my neck."  
The explorer breathed a heavy sigh of annoyance at her adversary's negative attitude. She wished now more than ever that she had killed him when she had the chance. "Well too bad for you then," she scorned, "because the only way out of here is to swim out."  
Immediately after the words were out of her mouth came a very low groan from behind her. It was Sam. As the other two turned to face him they could see that his face had turned whiter than snow and the expression that he wore transcended all known forms of fear that man has thus far been knowledgeable about. "But I - I can't swim," he confessed sadly.  
Lara was not at all surprised by this announcement. Ever since she had woke up in the company of these gentlemen she had forced herself to believe that in the company she was in nothing at all could go right. In keeping with this theory she was sure that it was now time for the other American to say or do the wrong thing. The young lady quickly turned and pointed a long finger in his direction. "Say anything, "she threatened, "and I will rip your lips off."  
Devon, who was already annoyed by the announcement of Beeman's lack of aquatic skills, took extreme exception to the young lady's threat not only because someone had the actual gull to threaten him but also because of whom the threat the person was that was threatening him. What made things worse was that he knew that she was his only real chance for escape. That being the case he retaliated in the only way he could think of at the moment, which was to make a very unfriendly comment under his breath comparing the explorer to a lady of the night.  
This, in turn, aroused the anger of the young English woman who returned the favor by making a statement questioning the humanity of the man's mother.  
After that it is very possible that things would have escalated to the point of someone's demise had Sam not stepped in between them. "Can we get back to my problem," he asked in his best authoritative voice. With the water now nearly around his ankles he was starting to wonder if the other two would even bother to try to help him.  
This brought up a host of entirely new arguments most of which had nothing to do with the current situation. As the trio quarreled on endless the water level slowly continued to rise along with Beeman's fears and Devon's bad attitude. Even Croft's usually calm demeanor began to suffer at the hands of the American's banter.  
"Alright," she yelled at last, "we're not getting anywhere this way." Seeing that neither of the men would ever figure out what she was thinking on their own she decided to disclose her plans to them in hopes that would, at the very least, be quiet for a few seconds. "Here's what we are going to do," she began, "do you see that thing up there." She quickly stretched out a long finger upward toward the box high above them. "We are going to swim up there and see if we can't get out that way."  
Sam was thoroughly unimpressed. "That's it," he asked, "that's the whole plan. From what I've read about you I would have thought you would just something up."  
Now it was Lara's turn not to be impressed. "So help me," she said glaring evilly at the archeologist, " if you start with that 'not a real archeologist' rubbish again I will leave you here to die."   
The prospect was more than enough to frighten the poor lad into submission. The water had now reached a point nearly around his waist and the prospect of it getting any higher frightened him more than he had thought possible. "Now then," continued the young lady, "Once the water gets high enough just start kicking and moving your arms in and out."  
"And you won't drown as fast," joked the Texan sarcastically.  
Suddenly, Lara wished she were back in the watery tunnel soaking wet and blind as a bat. At least then she was alone and not having to put up with the ever-bothersome Yankee twins. She could have, of course, killed them both and had considered the matter several times but somehow, merely being annoying wasn't enough of an excuse to act. On the other had, there were more than enough reasons to cap Devon but for fear of upsetting the other she forced herself to refrain for the time being.  
  
Instead, she spend the next several minutes attempting to explain the finer points of swimming to the archeologist while at the same time trying to ignore the other. By the time the whole affair had come to a point close to something resembling being straightened out they were all treading water waiting for a chance to reach the ornate box just above them.  
  
Unfortunately, that was when a very disturbing revelation took hold of all three of them. As the water crept upward the torches, one by one, began to extinguish leaving them in less and less light until, at last they found themselves enveloped by utter darkness.  
  
It did not take long either for the more water that flooded into the arena the faster it came in. It was a great relief to all three of them when they were finally able to at least see over the ledge into the small room. The prospect, however, was not encouraging. Behind a small lounge chair a large block towered down over the three. It was very much like those that they had encountered before that obstructed their escape and that were now responsible for holding in the water that they were now immersed in. Immediately Croft heaved herself up into the room followed by Beeman, who wanted to get out of the water as quickly as possible, and Devon, who wanted to keep an eye on the other two.   
Surprisingly, the furnishings inside while luxurious were still very modest considering the persons who supposedly occupied it. There were only three pieces of furniture in the whole place. Directly in front of them was a lounge chair, beside that there was a normal chair, and on the other side of the room sat a small table.  
But Croft, in her usual curious fashion, ignored all of this in favor of exploring mysteries of the protruding block in front of her. It didn't take her long to discover something strange. The edges of the block were not sealed like others they had seen before. "Sam," she called, "what do you make of this,"  
The young man stepped off of the ledge and moved to join his colleague. "Do you think we can move it," he asked after a short examination. Croft nodded in the affirmative. At the same time she motioned for Devon to join them and lend a hand. He shrugged reluctantly at the prospect but out of a sense of hope of escape he obeyed the lady's gestures and joined them.  
When they were fully assembled the three of them placed there shoulders on the stone object and proceeded to push with all of their might. Slowly, it started to give way, moving backward ever so slightly until it was nearly flush with the wall. All of a sudden there was an ease in the task as if something had been pushing against the block from the other side and abruptly released its hold causing the block to be moved very much easier than before.  
Unfortunately, this was not the best thing that could have happened for at that very moment Croft, Beeman, and Devon had thrust themselves as hard as they could onto the block. Suddenly, there was a loud click as the block moved backward. It did so with such force that all three of them went flying forward so hard that they fell over each other resulting in Lara being on the ground sandwiched between the Americans.  
This, along with the insuring struggle to get back up resulted in a fiasco the likes of which ESPN would have paid millions to broadcast. To begin with Devon, who was on top of the pile, thought that he would be clever and disarm his arch rival as he pushed himself back to his feet. The young lady, however, had anticipated such an asinine maneuver and, even though her back was to him managed to kick the miscreant where it hurt the most causing him to stumble backward over the lounge chair and onto the ledge. Even more embarrassing is the fact that he would have ended up in the water again had his leg not found its self wedged tightly in the leg of the chair.  
The young archeologist, by that time, had become very uncomfortable underneath Miss Croft and reconciled the situation by summarily pushing her off to one side. Normally such an action would have been met by verbal tongue lashing from the young lady yet this time she refrained from any sort of comment at all because of what she saw across the room.  
Why she had not noticed before now she could not say nor did she even bother to stop and consider the matter. Her curiosity would not allow it. On the table on the far side of the room was a rather large rolled up piece of parchment. Like a gnat to a lit flame she fluttered over the archeologist, who was still lying on the floor, toward the new discovery.  
Picking up the parchment from the table Croft began the study the foreign characters. They seemed to be written in approximately the same dialect as the spoken language they had encountered not too long before. Having the words marked out on paper, however, seemed make things easier to comprehend. Even so, it was more than obvious that deciphering the document would take some time.  
As she skimmed over the letters in an attempt to interpret at least a small portion of the parchment she felt a strange rumbling rolling upward from her stomach. It traveled swiftly through her esophagus like bullet train through a tunnel and exited through her mouth in the form a small belch.   
Immediately her demeanor switched back to her upper class background. Suddenly she was embarrassed beyond belief by the gaseous expulsion. It didn't matter that she thousands of miles away from anything or anyone that would care, it was the principal of the thing. Her hand at once flew over her mouth along with a loud gasp. Hastily, she scanned the room ready to apologize to the two men behind her.  
Fortunately, The Americans hadn't noticed a thing. They were, instead, busing themselves in an almost futile attempt to unwrap Devon's leg from the chair. Indeed, for the last several minutes they had been contorting not only themselves but the chair as well. It was by far it was the most ridiculous sight that the explorer had seen in quiet a long time and had it not been that tiny belch she would have truly been laughing her head off.  
As it was, she was far too concerned with breach of the social contract and determined that the reason for it was her lack of proper nutrition. That being the case, she reached into her backpack and removed the last vestiges of food that she possessed, a stick of beef jerky.  
She leaned back against the wall to witness the remainder of the American's attempt to free Devon's leg. As soon as she took the first bite, however, the Yankees stopped what they were doing. Something far more important than the Texan's trapped appendage had caught their eye. Both of them stared with horrified eyes into the blue liquid just below them.  
"What's wrong," asked the young lady.  
Beeman turned a fearful eye toward the explorer. "Have a look for your self," he said distraughtly.  
Lara took a second bite of jerky and moved to the edge of the water. Below her were a huge number of large white fishes swimming back and forth through the water. Instantaneously she knew what they were dealing but to be sure she spit the chunk of beef she had been chewing on into the liquid. As soon as it submerged beneath the surface the fishes turned and swarmed toward it attacking as if they were a Nazi wolf pack.  
"Perfect," Croft stated uneasily, "barracuda."  
  
To be Continued...  



	9. A Fumble in the Dark

Path of Destruction  
  
Part Nine: A Fumble in the Dark  
  
Miss Lara Croft stared dolefully down at the water below her. In the beam of the flashlight literally hundreds of man-eating barracuda swam contentedly below her waiting for the meal that they were sure was inevitable. On the ground beside her legs her two American cohorts were still trying to free Devon's leg from the clutches of the chair that Lara had thrown him into just moments before. They, at last, succeeded in the task but only by way of breaking the chair into several pieces. The result of this maneuver was that both men were sent tumbling backward. Immediately the Texan sprung to his feet, took hold of what was left of the chair, and, in true Bobby Knight fashion, heaved it as hard as he could into the depths of the water below.  
"Well, that was uncalled for," exclaimed the young lady unexcitedly.   
The Yankee glanced back at her with an evil scowl. "Why don't you go for a swim Croft," he responded in anger.  
With that the two would have most certainly been at each other's thoughts had not Beeman, once again, stepped between them. "Can you two wait until we get out of here before you kill each other," he asked in a very irritated tone.  
The other American turned his head slowly to face the archeologist. "And how are we gonna do that," he asked sarcastically.  
"There's only one thing for it," announced the explorer leaning around the side of the ledge, "We'll have to climb out through the spot where the water was coming in before." As she spoke she stretched her arm around the side of the box and took hold of the metal decorations hanging on the side while at the same time she held tight to the inside with her other hand. From there she pulled on the ornamental metal to make sure that it was secured tightly enough to climb.  
As she did so she looked over her shoulder at the Americans who were staring blankly at her from a state of extreme disbelief. In particular, Devon gazed at the female as if she had taken leave of her mental faculties. His face had turned very white as if he had just been sentenced to death. "Ain't there another way," He asked timidly after a moment.  
Croft smiled malevolently at the Texan. Had she finally found something that truly frightened him to death? "What's the matter," she mocked, "afraid of heights."  
In a flash the color returned to the man's face, the color of red. Half of it was because of the embarrassment of knowing that the Lara was correct in what she was saying which prompted the other half, anger.   
What happened next was even worse. In listening to the two rivals bicker back and forth Sam began to think that climbing up the wall would be little different than what he had once done during a dig a few years earlier. This time, however, there would be no safety rope. That was what scared him but given the choice between climbing or dying he decided to try. With a look of confidence spread across his face he pushed himself forward brushing right by his countryman. "I was going to agree with him," he told Croft, "but on second thought, I'll give it a whirl.  
"And what about you," remarked the lady examining the metal fixture from which she was suspended.  
Devon's anger now reached a boiling point. Miss Croft's scathing remarks concerning his fear had been the hay that fractured the dromedary's spinal column. Without an iota of thought to the welfare of either himself or his fellow American he sauntered forward and, with all of his might, punched Lara square in the abdomen nearly sending her rocketing backward to a dark watery death below. The only thing that prevented her untimely demise was her right hand which, despite the force of the blow or the pain that followed, remained clamped firmly to the metal fixture.  
It goes without saying that Lara was not in the least bit amused by this and was going to do something about it. Using the momentum caused by the Texan's blow, the explorer swung herself forward again applying, at the end, a swift kick to the chin of her assailant sending him reeling backward yet again. It also had the added bonus of knocking the flashlight from his hand and sending it twirling over to the waiting archeologist who immediately retrieved it.  
Croft was not through with him yet. Nearly in a rage , she hopped down from her perch and marched swiftly and with purpose toward her adversary until she was nose to nose with him. It was time, she reasoned, for this whole annoying competition to end.  
"Go ahead," taunted the desperado conceitedly, "hit me."  
Lara said nothing. She only stared malevolently into the American's eyes. Her only answer to the man's offer came in the form of a pistol aimed point blank at his head.  
All the same, Devon stood firm. Even when the hammer of the weapon was cocked into firing position he did not show the slightest sign of flinching. Something inside him said that she would not, or could not, squeeze the trigger.  
For her part, the young lady had every intention of discharging her firearm but alas, her enemy knew her too well. A flood of morality had invaded her head forcing her to examine closely what she was doing. This man was unarmed and more importantly he was no longer an immediate threat. As much as she wanted to she could not justify killing him just because he was a jerk.  
Despite all of this she tried to force herself to squeeze the trigger anyway but to no avail. She could not bring herself to do the deed. Fortunately, there was still one option open to her. "You're not worth the price of the bullet," she ridiculed sternly placing her pistol back into its holster. Then, before her adversary could come back with any sort of a witty rebuttal the explorer pulled her foot backward and with a great deal of force, planted it firmly into the man's mid section.  
As the Texan fell limp to the ground Miss Croft turned and made her way back to the side of the room. On the way, she stopped to rip the flashlight from the archeologist, who, after witnessing these events, had decided that his well being would be best served if he restricted himself to simply tagging along behind the both of them.  
And so it was that in the following minutes the explorer, followed by Sam, made her way to the top of the box. Just behind them came Devon who's fear of dieing in a dark and strange place along with the pain that had been inflicted upon him had given him new initiative to overcome his particular phobia.  
With much dread attacking him from within the southerner made his way to the makeshift ladder and proceeded to follow the other two by way of the light emanating from above. When he finally caught up to them they were busily looking over the wall in front of them for cracks and crevices from which to start their climb to freedom.  
Silently, he crept around through the shadows making his way behind them and began to listen. He was still too angry to join in the conversation but he listened attentively in hopes of overhearing something positive. In this he was sorely disappointed for no sooner had he joined the other two than they had found what they were looking for.  
With a large sigh to prepare herself Croft grabbed a small niche in the wall. "Right, lets go adventuring," she exclaimed placing the flashlight into her mouth and hoisting herself up.   
"Now wait, just one cotton pickin second," roared the Texan from behind, "you ain't just goanna up leave us hanging around here in the dark with no where to go."  
"What do you mean," Beeman asked suspiciously.  
Devon shook his head in disappointment. He had hoped that by now his compatriot would have become at least a little smarter. "I mean," he retorted, "that she's got the flashlight. How are we supposed to see where we're going?"  
Croft, who was still suspended from the wall, turned her head back toward the men nearly blinding them with the flashlight. "Have you got a better plan," she groused though the flashlight that was wedged between her teeth.  
"Well, there ain't no way we're all gonna get up there with just that one flashlight," he answered angrily. He was still very much upset about what had happened before and was not about to let his adversary decided what he was going to do.  
"Fine," Croft sighed, "I'll see if I can use my lighter." Leaping back off of the stone wall she passed the flashlight over to Beeman, who, at this point was trying very much to stay out of the way of everybody, and pulled a zippo lighter out of her hip pocket. She flipped the top open and struck the wick creating a bright yellow flame that light up a great deal more of the surrounding cavern than had thought possible with such a small thing.  
That being done she turned her attention back to the wall in hopes of start her ascent sometime in the next millenium. "Sam, give him a hand will you," she requested. Without any further hesitation she set the lighter securely between her teeth, hoisted herself upward onto the wall, and began to move.  
When she had gone a reasonable distance the archeologist placed the flashlight inside his of his mouth and pulled himself up onto the rock face. He then move cautiously to one side all the time mumbling out an explanation to Devon about the finer points of rock climbing. This, in its self took almost twenty minutes to complete along with another ten to coax him to move onward.  
Eventually, however, they got on their way and even thought their progress was slow it was still progress. In fact, it was only when they had made it halfway to their ultimate goal that everything fell apart. Devon, in trying to steady himself along the wall, misjudged the size of a tiny outcropping. Upon setting his right foot on top of it he slipped downward. Very quickly he tried to compensate by leaning all of his weight on to his left. This turned out to be a rather bad plan as well for the crevice which suspended his other leg could not support his full body and summarily crumbled into many small pieces leaving the Texan hanging from the by only his arms.  
And then some thing happened that for many years to come the American would swear left and right that was entirely intentional Croft dropped her lighter. Weather she did it on purpose or weather it was a simple case of the flame burning her nose, as she claimed later, no one was really sure. The only thing that could be agreed upon was the fact that the lighter, which was wedged between her teeth, dropped from her mouth and down into the dark watery abyss.  
All at once Devon started to panic. He could feel his muscles begin to strain as he struggled to pull himself back up, a feat in that he succeeded at very easily. Unfortunately, there was nothing to keep him from slipping again once he had pulled himself up.   
When he discovered this for his self a cold sweat began to form all over him. The panic he was feeling before now doubled in intensity. Again and again he tried to pull himself to safety but to no avail. He could feel his strength slipping away but there was nothing he could do about it.  
All the while the archeologist next to him swung the flashlight, which was lodged in his mouth, around trying to give his companion a view around him. "Calm down," he cried through the object in his teeth, "don't panic."  
But the southerner didn't hear a word of it. His mind was racing a million miles a minute trying to figure out what to do next. All he could see were the rocks in front of him and all he could here was the soft rustle of the water below.   
He was nearly at the breaking point; almost ready to commit himself to barracuda below him when Lara's unusually cool head prevailed. "Sam, shine the torch downward a bit," she ordered pointing to a spot just below her nemesis. He did so revealing out of the blackness a second outcropping just a centimeter away from where the first had been.  
The Texan saw it immediately and wasted no time in latching both feet onto it. Afterward, it took him a moment to realize that he was actually somewhat safe for the moment. He didn't know what to think, He couldn't think. All he could do was hug the stone wall around him in a solemn celebration trying to catch his breath. Afterward, it took a great deal of coaxing by the other two to convince him to begin to move once again.   
That was only the beginning of the troubles. When they did begin to move again they found that, because, Lara had dropped her lighter things went far slower than before. Sam, who had the only light lift to them and who was in the middle, was forced to swing his head from one side to the other allowing each person to see were they were going in turn.   
It was not at all a pleasant task from then on and they were all very relieved when their goal was in sight. Just as Croft had suspected, the water had been flowing out of a small cave etched into the rock. Slowly, they inched forward until the explorer could grab the stone outcropping with her right hand. When she was sure that she had a good grip on it she pulled her feet upward and, letting go of the wall, catapulted herself onto the ledge. From there she pulled her self up to the solid stone of the cave and after a quick check for any signs of danger motioned to Beeman to move into position.  
Slowly, the archeologist maneuvered himself along rockface until he had come the edge of the cave. When he was close enough he stretched out his arm and grabbed the ledge. And that was nearly the extent of his abilities. He so very much wanted to attempt the stunt that Croft had used moments before to leap to safety but he was quite sure that he would only make a mess of it. Therefore, he opted for option b, letting the young lady help him up.  
Lara quickly took a firm hold of the young man's arm as soon as it hit the rock below her. "Right," she ordered, "swing your other arm round and catch my wrist. Reluctantly, the American did as he was told and within seconds was securely sitting inside of the cave. He was very much glad to be there too for it turned out to be a far cry from any of the climbing that he had ever done before. Frankly, he was amazed that he was still alive and for several minutes went on a rant promising himself to never try such a thing again.  
Croft paid no attention to him. There was something else on her mind. Quickly, she picked up the flashlight and shined it down on Devon who was still hanging by uneasily from the wall. "I keep asking myself why I should bother rescuing you from these situations," she told him, "and the only explanation I can think of is that you just look so pathetic. I can't help myself."  
"I don't trust you Croft," he sneered from his stone perch, "You want something from me or you would have killed me by now."  
The young lady grinned evilly at the man below her. "Why Devon, I'm hurt," she stated in a soft sarcasm., "Here I am trying to show a gesture of friendship and you accuse my motives? How rude."  
"What do you want," he snapped. The rock face was becoming increasingly less comfortable for him with the passage of every second. Not only that, his opponent's smugness led him to believe that he was soon to be in for a very rough time.  
Lara lifted an eyebrow at the Yankee's uncouth behavior. "Well then," she started, "if that's the way you want it, that's the way you'll get it." With that the smile dropped from her face and it obvious that she now very serious. "What's in Israel," she asked sternly.  
"I don't know what do you mean," he responded  
The explorer shook her head, "Too bad," she lamented sarcastically as she pulled out one of her pistols and cocked the hammer, "I was almost becoming fond of you."  
"Hang on minute there," came a sudden voice from behind. Expediently, the tomb raider whirled around to see whom the voice belonged to. Once again it was Sam. He wasn't sure what was happening but he was not going to let anybody get killed in cold blood, especially not one of his countrymen. Hastily he began to march forward toward young lady.  
The female, on the other hand, took great exception to the interference. "Get back," she ordered or you'll both be dead." It was enough to halt the man in his tracks but as soon as he had her attention was back on the other American. "The parchment, dimwit,"she rebuked, "You know the one that Beeman stole from you. Where did it come from?"  
The southerner smiled maliciously. "It came from Israel," he quipped.  
"You really don't like you life do you," quarried the other.  
Now the American's smile grew bigger until it had covered his whole face. "I'd say it would be pleasure to die if it brought you pain, girly."  
The explorer shook her head in pleasant regret. "Too bad," she said replacing her weapons, "maybe I'll see you later then. That is...if you can jump over to the ledge in the dark." With that she turned on her heel and triumphantly walked past the archeologist who was still frozen behind her. "Come along Sam."  
"Wait," cried the Texan realizing he was in serious trouble.  
Croft stopped in her tracks at the sound. "Yes," she said without turning around, "is there something you would like to tell me?"  
"I don't know what's in Israel," relented the American.  
"Too bad for you then," answered the other still facing the other direction.  
Beeman scratched his head. He too was beginning to wonder what awaited them in the future. Still, he wasn't prepared to kill anyone to find out. "Why don't you just leave him alone," he muttered to the tomb raider.  
Suddenly Lara turned an evil glare onto the boy sending him reeling backward. "Stay out of this," she ordered, "Its none of your business."  
"What do you mean by that," answered the archeologist feeling as though he had just been insulted, "remember I've got the last stone."  
The young lady's faced quickly turned itself back into a smile, "We'll get to that little point later on. Right now, lets get the next stone."  
Before they could leave, however, there came an outburst from behind them. "A temple," shouted the voice in distress. It was Devon. They had almost forgotten about him again but now his voice echoed plainly off of the stone walls surrounding them sending with it a tone indicating the turbulent distress he was no w feeling.  
This time Croft swung around to hear what he had to say. His outcry indicated to her that he might be willing to talk more freely now. "Israel," she observed, "is a Jewish state. There are a lot of temples there."  
The Texan shook his head. The pain in his arms was now beginning to where on him. It was worse than if he had been tortured. "This is a special one," he admitted through his agony, "somewhere near Jerusalem."  
"Thank you," exclaimed the lady spinning once again to the opposite direction, "that's all I needed to know."  
As she walked away Sam stared back and forth between her and the cliffs edge where his American counterpart was still suspended. "You can't just leave him there," he yelled out. But Miss Croft paid no attention to it. She had what she wanted and now she was going on with her mission.  
Beeman was not as cold. He knew that she couldn't go far without him so he opted to make a humanitarian effort. With all the strength he had in him he leaned over the ledge and pulled Devon up to safety.  
He gazed off into dark passage before him at the thin shadow of his archival. He could not tell for sure but he was almost certain that she was still gazing at him with an evil express poised on her face. It grated on his nerves, growing every second, tightening in his stomach until, at last, he couldn't take it anymore. Finally, it snapped and with it went his sanity.   
Leaping to his feet and grabbing the flashlight Devon rushed forward intent on doing harm to his nemesis. As he approached the faint outline that made up her body began to shimmer and churn until, at last, the beam of the flashlight dead upon her. Just as he had suspected before she was leaning comfortably against the stone wall staring directly at him. On her face was a very smug expression that seemed to eat at his soul. It made him grow even angrier than he already was. Somehow he had to stop it. With out another thought he thrust the light beam full into Croft's eyes blinding her momentarily.   
That was all the time he needed too, for, as just as it happened he noticed that directly behind her was another cliff. He was pumped up even more now and began to move even faster. With the young lady blinded she would not be able to stop him this time.  
This was his chance and he took it. Lowering his shoulder he plunged himself fully into the explorer. She stumbled backward, incoherently at first and then, when she realized what was happening, attempted to adjust her weight to compensate. It was no good, she had been knocked over the edge. All she could now was hope for survival.  
  
  
To be continued...  



	10. X Marks the Spot

Path of Destruction  
  
Part Ten: X Marks the Spot  
  
Miss Lara Croft fell rapidly through the pitch darkness toward the eternal realm of afterlife and there was nothing she could do about it. In her mind, she knew that her life as she knew it was over. Never again would she see Winston, her faithful butler or smell the crisp morning air after a night of thunderstorm. Her only regret was that Devon had won the day and that Drake would have cart blanch to use the artifacts in any evil or immoral way he could think of.  
And that is when she hit bottom. Not on the hard stone ground as she had expected but into a deep pool of water. It was not much better, however, because at the speed she was traveling the force of the impact was enough to seriously harm anyone.   
Fortunately for her, she didn't land anything important. As she hit the water backside first she felt as though she had been heaved into brick wall by a Mac Truck and for a moment believed more than ever that her days of adventuring had come to a very undignified end.  
At that moment, however, something told her that this was not the case. Suddenly she felt the soft caress of the cool water gently pouring in over her body as she slowly began to sink into the deep. As it seeped over her head she became very aware that she not dead at all. On the contrary, she was very much alive but how long she would stay that way was quite a different question.  
Within the midst of the extreme dark and the depths of the water in which she was now submerged the and still stunned by the fact that she was still alive the explorer suddenly found herself in a quandary. In the ensuing struggle to determine which was actually up she hastily picked a direction in hopes that it would lead her to someplace where she could catch her breath.   
It was only when she began to need air, however, that she realized that she must have been going in the wrong direction. Hastily, the explorer made a ninety - degree turn sending herself headlong into her ponytail which had been floating along peacefully behind her.   
All of a sudden she was struck by a fantastic revelation, her hair floated. Expediently she reached upward and rubbed her hand along the rough braided locks to see in which direction they pointed. It only took a split second before she was sure. In the remainder of that second she quickly turned herself upward and thrust herself swiftly forward toward the surface.  
As she finally splashed through the barrier of the water into normal world once again she opened her mouth as wide as she could gulping up as much oxygen as she could. In fact, it was more than her lungs could hold.   
She coughed violently from the sudden rush of air into her body. It felt as though her organs had started to move through her esophagus toward her thought. It was so bad that she wasn't sure she would survive the process of breathing.  
When she did, at last, accomplished this the young lady began to explore her environment. That is, at least, she tried. The problem was that she was still enveloped in total darkness and now she had no means of light what so ever to guide her. She did not take much notice of this difficulty, however, for she was still reveling in the mere fact that she was breathing.   
For the time being she was content to use her other four senses as best she could. She already knew that she was in another underground stream, perhaps even the same one as before. The one thing that was for sure was that it was a defiantly a river and not a lake. She could feel the small ripples of the current flowing past and moving on out in front her. This was an extremely good sign for her because before she so rudely became the victim of an attempted homicide she had noticed in the dim light of the American's flashlight a small ledge leading off in the same direction.  
That being the case she began at once to move her arms and legs around propelling her self forward with the current and did not stop for a long time. So long, in fact, that she began to wonder if she was doomed to die right there in the water before she found some place resembling dry land.  
Amazingly, the thought had no sooner entered her head than she knocked her arm hard against something in front of her. Instinctively she stopped her forward progress and reached out with her hand to examine it.   
Ever so slowly she stroked her hand along it as if it were Braille trying to get some sort of image in her mind. It felt very much stone but it was not a natural formation like what she had climbed up before. This was much smoother. More than that every now and then there were small grooves that, when she traced them with her fingers, moved around in a rectangular shape. There was no doubt about it, what she had found were man made bricks.  
Her moral skyrocketed. If these were man made bricks there was a good chance that a way out would be somewhere close by. It was just a matter of finding it. Cautiously the young lady slid herself along the wall to her right in search of such an exit.  
As she moved along she began to get a feeling that the something was digging into her side. At first she did not think much about it because she was still suffering the effects of the hard landing she had made but when it started to push firmly into her ribs she suspected something else.  
Intrepidly she ran her hands across the object beside her. From what she could tell it was a flat stone platform of some sort but as for its purpose she could not yet tell. It did not much matter to her either because by now was she exhausted from the frustrations of being wet and cold while all the while being in the midst of an extremely passionate loathing for Devon who had put her there in the first place.   
It was the latter thought that dwelled in her mind the most as she crawled up onto the stone structure in front of her. She promised herself with deep sincerity that she would never again hesitate to kill anyone who got in her way. Until now she had not had as much disdain for Devon as she let on. The truth was that looked on the whole thing as a game. It was, in her mind, a simple race each time. Who could get there first and how long could they keep the artifact away from the other?  
Now, however, things had changed. It was not that she was upset about being shoved into the abyss nor was she was angry with herself for letting her guard down but not in particular at the action. The actual root of her rage was more in the attitude of the way in which it was handled. Always before there had been a mutual respect for each other, an unspoken rule between them. Each of them understood that the other would most definitely try to kill them, however, in doing so they would always, either out of respect or a sadistic pleasure let the other see it coming. This time Devon had violated that and it began to fester inside of Lara's head. With every breath that she took her hatred for him grew and with it, her desire for revenge.   
She was now sitting upon the platform with her legs crossed in front of her allowing the hatred to build up inside of her until she couldn't stand it anymore, she had to find a way out so that she enact her revenge. After a moment she stood up to think about the situation in more detail. It did not help matters much. All she knew was that she surrounded by water and that she was in total darkness. There was nothing she could do but die?  
Stressed by the whole ordeal she reached around to rub the back of her neck firmly rolling her fingers back and forth along the stiff bones and muscles while at the same time lifting her head up and down to get the full effect of the massage.  
As she did she happened to notice something strange. High above her was a small white dot. It seemed to dance this way and that throughout the blackness as if it had come for no other reason than to be with her and she wanted to be with it. She did not know why but she was almost certain that the light was the key to her escape. She had to find out.  
In near desperation for a way to satisfy her curiosity Lara began search all around her for something with which to test her theory. It did not take long at all for her to find what she was looking for, a small stone. Carefully, she picked it up, took aim, and, with all her strength, launched the tiny projectile into the air toward the tiny ball of light. Seconds later there was a loud thump as the stone ricocheted off of its target.  
Croft smiled an incredibly large smile as she heard it. The fact that the sound that emanated back to her as a thump was music to her ears. She had expected to hear the click of stone against stone or, worse yet, nothing at all. Instead she heard another sound, the sound of stone against wood. It was an indication to her that, at the very least her days in the darkness were over for if what was above her was wooden than the tiny dot she had seen may be some form of light leaking through a hole.   
Immediately, she employed the use of her pistols and set to work firing heavily in the direction of the small white dot. Happily, with each round she expended another white dot would appear letting more and more light. After only a moment enough damage had been done to allow her, for the first time, to get a dim view of her soundings.  
Just as she had suspected the ledge that she was standing on was in the middle of a wide slow moving river. Off to one side a large water wheel, almost identical to the one she had seen before, rolled back and forth in the current creaking silently with each wave. It must have been, she surmised, part of the device that had been responsible for flooded the arena before. From what she could tell simply by looking at it the wheel would scoop up the water and pour it onto a higher platform where it was picked up by yet another wheel and so on until it was dropped into a huge vat where it awaited someone to finally release it into the arena below.  
What fascinated her more, however, was something completely different. Directly in front her were two parallel rows of holes etched into the wall leading upward to where she had first seen the bright light. Through the dim light that was pouring in she could now see an old, half rotten, wooden barricade. "Very clever," she said to herself.  
Ecstatically Lara rushed to the top of the ladder and peeked through one of the bullet holes that she had created. As she pressed her eye against the wooden barrier she could feel its rough texture digging into her brow. It felt like she was going to get a splinter in her eye socket from being so close. But she ignored this worry completely in favor of curiosity and hope.  
To her astonishment the room beyond was so full of light that it nearly blinded her the first time she set her eye onto it. Instinctively, she pulled back with tightly closed eyes to avoid the sudden rush of pain into her head. Not that she minded, however, because it had been so long since she had gazed upon any light at all that she was almost glad to be injured by it.  
After a moment when the throbbing had subsided along with several more moments of blinking she once again pressed her eye up to the hole this time being careful not to singe her optic nerves. What she saw was a long wide tunnel. It started far off on her left in the clutches of a dark recess and then flowed along past her for several feet before it curved out of view.  
The illumination that had so violently attacked her before came from a large hole in ceiling that had collapsed a long time ago bringing with it a great deal of sod and grass giving the sun cart blanch to light up the entire area whenever it pleased.   
With the excitement of a schoolgirl, Lara stuck her fingers through the bullet holes as best as she could and attempted to tear away the rotting wood. Unfortunately, the wood was not as weather worn as it had first appeared. She could not get a good grip anywhere at all on the barricade, pulling it apart with her bear hands was apparently not possible.  
Not deterred in the least Croft scurried back down the ladder where she hurriedly proceeded to search the platform for a rock or other hard object that she could use to smash her way to freedom. Being such a small surface, however, it was painfully obvious that she would have to look elsewhere for such an object. This was did not make for a more difficult task for, being in a cave, such things were readily abundant. The only problem was that most of them were underneath the river.  
Dropping to one knee the explorer swiftly whipped off her pack and in her quest. Gently she removed the precious India stone along with the parchment she had taken from the arena and set them to one side where they would be relatively safe while she delved into the unknown. Once those were secure, she proceeded to simply turn the backpack completely upside down dumping the remaining contents onto the ledge in front of her scattering various odds and ends all over. Some of these things included her sunglasses, a few small books on ancient Latin and Hieroglyphics, in case she was confused by any sort of symbol she might not know, various food stuff packaging, the contents of which by now had been disposed of, and a lipstick for marking her path if she truly felt insecure about what direction to go. It had never been used.  
In the midst of all of these one more little thing fell out, a single solitary flare. "Well, where did you come from," exclaimed the young lady as she acrimoniously picked up the instrument of light firmly in one hand. How she had missed it before she had no clue and why it had suddenly appeared now was an even bigger mystery. In the next few minutes the young lady examined both the flare and the insides of her pack in hopes of understanding why she had not found it before when she needed it. Of course, she found nothing and was forced to concede the whole affair to focus on the task before her but not before issuing a few choice words to the object.  
In the next moment Miss Croft was underneath the surface of the water once again with a flare in one hand and her empty backpack in the other searching for a suitable rock to break her out of the dark dungeon she was in.   
It was not before her eye fixed its self onto a stone that was almost exactly what she was looking for. It was small enough to fit neatly into the palm of her hand with grooves running here and there to act as a contour for her hand. In a flash it snapped up and slipped into the explorer's pack before continuing on.   
The next stone that she found was a great deal larger and smoother. It was also heavier. Not that Lara actually even wanted it but she figured that it couldn't hurt to pick it up. After all, she wasn't totally sure that the first one would work and since she was truly on her last flare this time she wasn't about to take a chance.  
And so she picked up the overly large stone and placed it gently in her backpack along side the somewhat smaller one. This, of course, brought forth a new problem that the young lady had yet thought of, swimming with so much weight.  
Actually, it wasn't that big of a problem, at least, it wouldn't have been had Lara considered the matter to begin with. As soon as she had secured the rock in her backpack she rolled around and pushed herself off the bottom of the river with her feet. It nearly tore her arm off.  
That being accomplished the young lady returned to the surface to set her plan into action. Hoisting herself up to the stone platform a second time she carefully exchanged the contents of her backpack with what she had previously removed and replaced it over her shoulders.  
Then, with the exuberance of a criminal freed from her cell, the young lady scurried back up the ladder and began to beat the wooden barrier as hard as she could with the rock that she had found. As she pounded the wooden structure small bits began to splinter off and fall to the floor. After a few more hits the pieces started to get a bit larger until she had produced a hole large enough to fit her hand through.   
With out a seconds delay she dropped the stone and threw her right hand into it and pulled until there was a loud snap. Suddenly a large portion of the obstacle flipped out sideways nearly taking out the explorer's right eye before floating to the water below.  
Now there was a hole large enough to squeeze her body through. It was not an easy fit by any means but after contorting herself this way and that she managed to get her front half through. The rest of her soon followed with much less of a struggle and before she knew it she was standing in the midst of the full, bright, sunlight once again.  
It seemed like an eternity since she last felt such warmth and for a moment she forgot everything. Devon, Beeman, the artifact, they were all out of her mind. She could only consider the wonder and power of the sun and how she had missed it.  
It reminded her of childhood summers long past in her. Times when her only concern in life was weather to read Dickens or H.G. Wells and she longed for their return. There was no doubt that she loved what she was doing as an adult but now that she thought about it she could not help but wish for the innocence of those days.  
To add to the nostalgia a cool breeze now found its way to the explorer giving her yet another reason to linger on for a while. Gently, it blew her dark brown hair back over her head making each strand frolic to and fro like small children. She smiled heartily as a flood of new images set upon her mind. Life was good.  
In spite of all of this, however, she knew that she could not spend all of eternity enjoying the sweet gifts of nature around her. There would be more than enough time for that later. Right now she had a mission to complete not to mention giving Devon his comeuppance.   
Setting her sunglasses in place she turned to the right and ambled swiftly down the winding hallway. It swung around in a strange little S like pattern before it emptied out into a small circular room. Like much of the rest of the structures she had come across, this room was made entirely of stone blocks. Starting at the bottom it rolled its self upward smoothly into dome. Just to the left of her a second opening was cut into the wall leading back outside allowing the bright sunlight to shine its light softly onto the stone floor.   
None of this impressed the explorer at all, however. In fact, she barley took notice of any of it at all. Something else had caught her attention. In the very center of the room was a stone pedestal. It was made of limestone and stood nearly four feet high above the floor. The rest of it extended deep into the ground below.   
Around its top several characters much like those that she had discovered before on the parchment in the arena were carved into the surface. This time, however, she was not encumbered by a lack of lighting which made things infinitely easier to decipher  
It took a few minutes for the young lady to explore the letters and a few more minutes to decipher them into something resembling words. Even then, because of the dialect, she was not sure that she was totally correct in her interpretation and even if she was she was not sure that she fully understood it.   
"This...is the stone...of the mighty god...Jupiter," she translated aloud as she rubbed her fingers across the pedestal, "Guarded by the...sacred...clan. Heed that all must...succumb to the mightiest. Touch not this stone...lest the truth...be revealed."  
"Curious," she said to herself deep in thought. It wasn't even a traditional curse as she was accustoming to finding. There was nothing about death or plagues or anything. The only thing that it mentioned was truth. It was a phrase that stumped her greatly. What truth was it talking about and who was the one it called the mightiest?   
But even this was not the full focus of the young lady's attention. The object that she was gazing so diligently at was setting directly on top of the pedestal, a large blue jewel. Her quest was at an end.  
In a flash she made her way across the room to the artifact. It was even more beautiful than the India stone that she had previously obtained and even though the sunlight could not reach far enough across the floor to make contact with it there was very bright glow coming from within. Enamored by curiosity she quickly pulled out the first jewel to compare. They were identical. The only difference between the two of them was the picture that was engraved in the top of each.  
Lara could hardly believe her eyes. There was no evidence of any hidden doors, puzzles, traps, or anything else to protect the jewel. Something, she felt, was very wrong. Every artifact that she had obtained before was guarded in one form or another. Some were attached to traps while others sat under the watchful eye of a guardian such as a dragon or other unearthly monster. But here there was nothing.   
It was enough to send her mind into warp drive. What was she missing? She ran every scenario she could think of around in her head trying to understand where they would have put a trap going so far as to search the stone pedestal from top to bottom but did not find one thing that looked like it would trigger a trap.  
That is until she looked down. Extending outward from the pedestal in four different directions she noticed four crevices extending outward toward the wall dividing the room into quarters. Even more curious was the fact that none of these sections were connected to the others in any way.   
Throwing herself to the ground Lara peered inquisitively through the gaps in hopes of understanding the nature of the separation. Unfortunately, it was far too dark to see anything let alone make an assumption. Still, she was sure that something was afoot but for now there were other things that she wanted to concentrate on.  
Rising to her feet once again Miss Croft returned to the artifact in the center of the room just in time to here a very strong Texas accent echo faintly from the secondary entrance to the room. "Ah, so there you are Devon," she whispered sarcastically, "it's about time you showed up."  
With that, she drew her pistols and aimed carefully at the entry point waiting for her foe to rear his ugly head. It didn't take long. The verbal banter between he and Samuel Beeman grew steadily louder by the second. She had not forgotten her adversary's stunt to end her and now it was payback time.   
A moment later a small shadow appeared from behind a corner followed soon after by its owner. This was Croft's best chance. Carefully, she took aim at the man's ear with her left gun leaving the right in case she missed. Then, before he knew she was there, Lara Croft fired.  
  
  
To be continued...  



	11. The Might of the Mightiest

Path of Destruction  
  
Part Eleven: The Might of the Mightiest  
  
Miss Lara Croft squeezed back on the trigger of the nine-millimeter pistol in her left hand. It was   
aimed directly at the head of Devon, who had angered the young lady by dropping her of off a cliff. Now   
as he came into view from behind a large rock formation her revenge would be realized.  
"Goodbye love," she whispered quietly under her breath as she moved the trigger back the last few   
millimeters.   
All of a sudden the calmness of the air was shattered by a loud bang as a bullet was released into   
the air along with a flurry of smoke. It flew swiftly and with purpose toward its target intent on tearing   
through flesh and bone leaving its victim dead as a doornail upon the ground.  
This was not, however, the result. Before it could even come anywhere near its target the deadly   
projectile slammed forcefully into the rock formation sending a spray of dust and rock into the air.  
Instantly, Devon threw himself back around the corner in shock sending Beeman, who was right   
behind him, bounding backward as if they were playing an extremely poor game of follow the leader.   
"What's going on," he asked his countryman in a panic.  
The Texan shook his head trying to regain his faculties, "I think somebody got here first."   
"Who," answered the other frantically.  
"I hate to think," exclaimed the southerner running his forearm across his brow. He was very   
certain that he had sufficiently done away with his adversary but in the light of her miraculous escapes in   
the past his fears lingered in his mind. Besides that, Sam's question now became very valid as well   
because if it was not her than who else would want the stone?  
It was not long at all before the answers to these questions became frightfully apparent for Lara   
had become increasing agitated that her adversary had hidden himself from her view. "DEVON," she   
yelled at the top her lungs as she slinked toward the rocky out cropping with both pistols now at the ready.   
"Devon, you have thirty seconds to get you worthless hide out here."  
The Texan smiled evilly at his companion who was still on the ground next to him. A malicious   
plan had come into his head to save his hide, sacrifice the archeologist. "Sorry partner," he chuckled, "but   
your time is up."   
The archeologist stared back silently in curious wonderment attempting to decipher the intentions   
of his countryman. He was just about too but before he could open his mouth he was being shove out into   
the open intending as if her were a cheap decoy.  
Unfortunately it was more of a distraction to Sam than to Lara. As soon as he hit the open area he   
duct down in a panic to avoid the barrage of gunfire that he was sure was coming. For her part, Lara   
remained calm but alert. The moment that the American appeared her weapons were immediately trained   
on him but, with the same speed and efficiency, moved off when she realized that he was not the target.   
"Get back, Beeman," she ordered as she continued to prowl toward her prey.  
The young man, being of a halfway intelligent nature, obeyed the order without hesitation. At the   
same time he somehow discovered within him the courage to question her motives. "What are you going to   
do," he asked softly not wanting her to turn her wrath upon him.  
For a few seconds the explorer neglected to answer. She had just come upon the edge of the wall   
that separated her from Devon and was preparing herself for an assault when the archeologist spoke. Even   
then, the only reply that she could give was in the form of a very assertive, "None of your business,"   
followed by a second, more stringent order to keep well out of the way.  
Unfortunately for her and to Devon's great delight, that is exactly what Mr. Beeman did. He   
removed himself so out of the way, in fact, that he discovered the jewel as well and just like Lara had done   
moments before began to examine it. The only problem was that he neglected to notice the trap.  
And so, just as Croft had swung around to finally eliminate her adversary once and for all, Sam   
took the opportunity and retrieved the jewel from its pedestal. "DON'T TOUCH IT," she cried out when   
she noticed what he was up to. But, in his own Lara like persistence, he ignored the warning and removed   
the artifact.  
That's when Devon attacked. With his adversary's attention diverted there was suddenly a   
window of opportunity and one that he did not intend to pass up. Using all of his power the Texan threw   
himself headlong into the explorer as if he were pro wrestler. He then set upon her and would have beaten   
her until she was dead if she had not immediately shoved him off to one side in favor of rescuing the other   
American from the booby trap that he had just sprung.  
As soon as the jewel was lifted off of the pedestal the sections in the floor instantaneously began   
to collapse beneath him. He only had one chance to survive. He tucked the artifact underneath his arm and   
made a wild dash back to where Lara and Devon were. But it was too late. He only made it half way   
before the floor completely dropped from beneath him sending him and the stone spiraling downward out   
of view into the precipice.  
The young lady couldn't believe it. There, right before her very eyes, Sam Beeman had met his   
doom and all because of Devon. Furiously, she whirled around drawing her second weapon at the same   
time, firing randomly around her sending the Texan diving headlong behind a nearby rock. "You little   
toad," she mocked through an angrily calm voice as she moved toward him, "You should have left this   
between us, or were you too scared that I'd actually off you this time."  
"Hey, I'm just following orders," replied the other from behind the boulder.  
"Orders," repeated the tomb raider angrily to herself, "orders to let innocent people die."  
"If necessary," yelled the other coldly from his hiding place.  
Now Lara was really angry. Slowly, she inched her way toward the man as if she were Death   
himself. "I don't think it was necessary all," she answered, "It makes me wonder what the real nature of   
your orders was."  
"What about them," asked Devon cautiously peeking out to see what his adversary was up to.  
"Well," the explorer began again, "I know why Drake hired me, but what about you? You're   
usually only around to stop me but this time we started out working for the same man."  
"What's your point Croft," yelled the American.  
Lara shook her head in disappointment. "Surly you can't be that stupid," she moaned. "You and I   
being hired by the same man can only mean that he wants to keep one of us in check. And somehow, you   
little worm, I don't think they worry too much about you."  
The American smiled sinisterly at the accusation. "All right, I'll give you that much," he   
conceded as he silently began to moved himself around the rock in hopes taking the young lady by surprise.   
Little did he know that she had already beaten him too it. As he stealthily clambered his way   
around the side of the boulder he suddenly found himself face to face with an outstretched silver nine-  
millimeter pistol and behind it, a very serious looking Lara Croft. "I'm glad you'll agree with me on that,"   
she barked as she pulled the man out into the open by his collar. "What's the plan," she asked   
malevolently.  
"Its pointless now," insisted the other, "the jewel is gone."  
"So it won't matter if you tell me will it," she countered shoving the gun barrel hard into the   
man's forehead."  
"Alright," cried the American, "it's like this. Mr. Drake's grandfather was a member of some   
ancient society out in California in the thirties. They believed that all gods everywhere existed and   
competed for the praise of man."  
Croft lifted an eyebrow. "God's such as Shiva, Osiris, and Jupiter," she asked knowingly.  
"Yeah," Devon nodded, "just like the jewels.   
Now things were getting clearer than ever before. She bit down thoughtfully on her lower lip   
trying to work it all out in her mind. "So, what's the connection between the two," she finally asked.  
"Because," replied the Texan sternly, "Somebody found an ancient manuscript that said there was   
way to talk to any of these gods directly."  
"Wait," interrupted the explorer, "I bet I can guess the rest. Drake wants to talk to these three   
gods, right?"  
Devon shook his head, "I don't know about that," he answered, "All I know is that he needs these   
stones to what ever it is he's gonna do."  
"Thank you," Croft remarked politely as she backed away from the man with her pistol still   
stretched out in front of her, "I truly appreciate the information." The time had come, she thought, to end   
the whole affair once and for all. Once again she began to squeeze back her weapon's trigger. "Goodbye   
Devon," she said, "I shall not miss you at all."  
"Wait a minute," yelled the other smugly, "you can't kill me. You'll never find the site in Israel   
without me."  
Lara smiled maliciously at the panicking man in front of her. "Ah, but I'm not going to Israel,"   
she chuckled, "I'm going home. I think I'll keep the India stone for my personal museum but the Jupiter   
stone will have to be thrown into the ocean or something."  
"Jupiter stone," remarked the curiously, "you mean the one that just fell into the pit with   
Beeman?"  
Suddenly the smile on the young lady's face grew to nearly three times in size. "Not at all," she   
laughed, "I'm talking about the Jupiter stone that I pulled off the pedestal right before you came around the   
corner. The thing that Sam tragically tried to take was that fake Egyptian stone. If he hadn't been so   
excited he may have noticed in time. Too bad too, I was rather hoping you'd try it."  
"So we're back in business then," asked the American ignoring the last remark.  
Croft shook head. "No, I'm in business and you're dead."  
"I don't think so," replied the other becoming courageous than usual."  
It made Lara nervous. What was he hiding? Quickly, she scanned the man from head to toe   
trying to uncover the source of his bravery. "Oh, and why is that," she asked finding nothing of   
consequence.  
"Because of that," he said gazing far over the explorer's shoulder.  
Lara couldn't resist. Despite the fact that it was a very old cliché she had to know why it was that   
she couldn't shoot such an ever-present thorn in her side right at that very moment. Had she any inkling at   
the time about what she was going to see she probably would have shot the man anyway despite any regard   
to her own safety.  
As she threw her head over her shoulder she detected a small black dot on the horizon. A second   
later it had doubled in size and after about a minute its true form began to take shape. It was a helicopter.   
To be more precise it was Bell UH-1H Iroquois transport helicopter just like the ones used by the   
Americans in Vietnam.   
She recognized it immediately as Mr. Drake's personal helicopter. He had some how acquired it   
from the U.S. Military and ever since then it had served as a notorious warning of his, or his associates,   
arrival. Why the man had never bothered to simply purchase a civilian transport he had never said and, no   
one had ever asked. The only thing that anyone really knew was that he owned it and even that had come   
under suspicion a great many times.  
Nonetheless, it was here now and undoubtedly, its owner had sent it to collect his prize. How he   
had located them Croft didn't. What she was sure of, though, was that it meant trouble for her. Also, she   
was sure to be outgunned and there was nowhere to run but back to the dark paths that she had just escaped   
from.  
"How did they find us," she demanded angrily.  
Now it was Devon's turn to smile. Reaching into his hip pocket he removed a small block oblong   
box. It was about the size of an ordinary cigarette lighter. In replace of a wick, however, was a red button..   
"It's a homing device," Explained the Texan holding it up in the air, "In case I needed an early escape   
route.  
In a sudden rush of desperation Croft took a step toward the American to better her aim. By that   
time, however, the helicopter had reached a close enough range for the gentleman in the back to fire a   
warning shot that impacted the explorer's foot.  
Instinctively, the young lady turned sharply toward the source of the gunfire to defend herself   
leaving Devon another opportunity for attack. The second that his nemesis's head was turned he threw   
himself into her with all his might sending her flying helplessly into a nearby rock formation.  
As her head collided hard with the rock face the explorer's body went limp allowing her pistols to   
fall from her hands as if some unseen force had ripped them out. Their owner followed them in short order   
landing facedown beside them in a stunned daze.  
When she finally returned to her senses the young lady rolled herself over onto her back. It was   
quite possibly one of the most painfully experiences in all her life. . Not only did the blow from Devon   
leave her with a huge bruise but now all the other pains she had suffered during the whole expedition   
suddenly returned with a vengeance.   
In particular, the she landed directly on the cut over her eye. Once again a small stream of blood   
began to trickle out of it forming a small pool on the ground.  
To top it all off when she opened her eyes she did not see a clear blue sky or a flock of birds or   
even a cloud. All that was there was a large, sliver, nine-millimeter pistol and on the other side of it, with   
the sun glaring down from behind him, was Devon.  
He had wasted no time, after incapacitating Croft, in disarming the young lady. Even with the   
cover of helicopter he was not at all comfortable with her presence especially when she was armed. In fact,   
he may have killed her right there if he wasn't sure that Drake would want the honor for himself.  
By now, the chopper had finally come to a complete hover directly above the two adversaries and   
immediately a rope was lowered for their convenience. "Get up," the Texan ordered loudly over the sound   
of the rotors and waving the gun in the air as if he were John Wayne.  
Lara breathed a heavy sigh of annoyance as she slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position and   
then, with some coaxing from the American, to her feet. As she did she felt a sudden stint of dizziness over   
take her as if all the blood had gone to her head. Drunkenly, she stumbled backward and then forward   
slightly trying to catch her balance.  
All the while Devon stood well back from the exhibition lest he get caught up in the whole affair.   
He couldn't help but lose the menacing demeanor that he usually liked to carry with him. This time he was   
forced to chuckle slightly at the sight. Right before him, his greatest adversary swung this way and that as   
if she had just undertaken the company of a bottle of Tequila. In reality, the whole show only lasted for   
about ten seconds but that was more than enough time for Devon to view a scene that would become   
legendary for years to come in archeological circles.   
"Get on up there," the Texan ordered through convulsions of laughter.  
"Go and boil your head," Croft counted grabbing the rope ladder for support. She was   
increasingly becoming sick of the man's sick humor.  
Devon simply ignored the statement. He was too happy to give it any consideration. After all, he   
had gotten two jewels and Miss Croft all at the same time. It was absolutely heaven.  
Lara, on the other hand, took the next few minutes, as she climbed, to contemplate her situation.   
She was under the whim of an armed man who hated her. Worse yet, the weapons that he was carrying put   
him in control of the jewels. That was more power than she cared to let him have. Now she really had to   
get rid of him. Unfortunately, she had no clue had to do it. She would have to wait for an opportunity.  
For the remainder of her trip up the ladder the Lara's imagination raced with possibilities. She   
began to daydream slightly about what she would do if she were here or he were there or what were   
chances of success if this or that happened.   
Her mind was still racing when she reached the top. So much had gone through her head, in fact   
that, for a moment, she wasn't entirely sure of where she was. In the next second, however, she   
remembered and gazed into the helicopter with heightened curiosity. As air transport goes, it was rather   
spacious. This, of course, was due in part because the sides to the passenger area had been removed   
creating the illusion of have far more room than there actually was.  
Adding to this deception were the two rows of facing seats that stretched along both sides of the   
walls. They extended almost completely to the edge of the helicopter on both sides giving Lara a   
terrifically menacing idea about how to go about getting out the spot that she was in. She would simply   
wait for him to climb up and then push him out again.  
There was only one problem, a black hat. Actually, it was not the hat its self that stood in her way   
but the person that sat underneath it. He was a rather thin man and at first glance did not appear to have a   
great deal of strength in him either. More over he did not seem to be overly encumbered by a great deal of   
intelligence either. As a matter of fact, the only reason why Miss Croft did not send him tumbling out of   
the helicopter at that very moment because he had a sniper rifle securely tucked under one arm.  
Upon the face of the man sat a thin pair of glasses. That is to say that the rims were of a very thin   
nature. The glasses themselves, while not being unusually thick, seemed to indicate that the man's eyesight   
was anything but stellar.  
The hat that sat atop the gentleman's head was of the wide brimmed fashion but one look at it was   
quite enough for anyone to deduce that it had been used for far more than simply keeping the sun off. The   
brim was bent down in the very front forming a little dip from the numerous times it had been swiftly torn   
off and thrown back on.   
Further up from that was caked a great deal of old dust and dirt that had fallen carelessly onto the   
garment. In fact, the hat was blotched by a number of such patches. They were scattered on all sides and   
in all shapes almost as if the designer had placed them there himself for effect.  
"Can I give you a hand," the man asked politely as the young began to climb in.  
Lara sneered sarcastically back at the man. "Only if you want to learn to fly the hard way," she   
snapped.  
  
"Goodness, aren't we touchy today," quipped the stooping down and locking one end of a pair of   
handcuffs to the explorer's right arm. Immediately, Croft countered with a well-placed low blow sending   
the man to the floor of the helicopter. She then proceeded to move upon him and would have done a great   
deal of more serious damage to his person had not Devon once again.  
"What in blazes is going on here," he yelled rolling himself into the helicopter and once more   
brandishing Lara's pistols.  
"Your friend was getting a bit fresh with me," replied the lady smartly.  
The Texan shook his head. "You all right Mike," he asked the other man.  
Mike rolled over and sat up as best as he could. "I'll be ok," he answered, "but next time tell me   
when they're going to be uncivilized."  
"Don't you know anything," Devon responded motioning his captive to the side with her own   
pistols, "All women are uncivilized."  
Lara grinned at man maliciously as she moved off to one of the side seats that was being pointed   
out. "You know," she reflected, "until I met you, Devon, I had a great deal of respect for the United   
States."  
"Just sit down Brit," he ordered, "Mike, lock her down."  
Croft did as she was told allowing Mike to move in and lock the remaining end of the handcuffs to   
a small hook that was fastened into back wall. "Now what," he asked.  
With his adversary now secured, Devon placed the pistols between his belt and his pants in front.   
"Now, he answered, "Mr. Drake makes us very rich and very powerful."  
  
To Be Continued…  



	12. Truth be Known

Path of Destruction  
  
Part Twelve: Truth Be Known  
  
Miss Lara Croft sat firmly handcuffed to the seat of a Bell UH-1H Iroquois transport helicopter.   
On either side of her Devon and his associate, Mike admired the two jewels that they had just rescued from   
the young lady's backpack. The third, Mike explained, was now safely in the hands of their employer, Mr.   
Drake.  
According to the story that he set down the Egyptian stone was recovered shortly after Sam was   
taken below in search of Lara. "The fool gave it to a museum for safe keeping," laughed the American as   
he concluded the tale.  
Croft shook her head. "Have you ever been inside of a museum," she asked mockingly as she   
reached back and removed the parchment that she had discovered earlier. The conversation, she observed,   
didn't seem to be getting anywhere anyway. At least she could get some deciphering done.  
"What's that," Devon blurted out the moment he saw it.  
"Are you stupid," answered the explorer, "or did you miss that whole experience back there?"  
Suddenly the Texan's mind was jogged and he once again remembered the whole affair far better   
than he actually wanted to with special emphasis on scaling the stone wall as well as the number of times   
that a pistol was jammed into his face. This had the effect of causing a side effect that was most satisfying   
to Lara, silence.   
On the other hand, the second American had no such memories within him making him a great   
deal braver than the other. To that end he was open the discussion of parchment technical worth. "How   
much you think that'll go for," he asked in a very uncultured tone of voice.  
"You can't be serious," retorted the young lady, "not only are we dealing with an extremely great   
historical and anthropological find but your boss seems very intent on using those stones in some sort of an   
old ceremony that may bring about the end of the world and you can only think of money." WHY DOES   
DRAKE WANT TO TALK TO GOD  
Mike nodded and grinned stupidly. "Yeah," he agreed, "what's your point?"  
Suddenly it was obvious that there was no use at all in trying to argue with such a heightened level   
of stupidity and since she was handcuffed she returned herself to the only that could possible assist her, the   
parchment. "I really hate Americans," she told her self under her breath.  
Before she could get anything even half way translated, however, the explorer was interrupted by   
Devon's curiosity. Ever since Lara had mentioned of the end of the world he suddenly found himself   
growing more and more worried about it as time went on. "What do you mean the world's the going to   
end,' he finally asked when he couldn't stand it anymore.  
"I mean," Croft answered, "That we don't really know what these stones will do. I, myself, know   
only of one legend that speaks of the end of the world. That's why those people were trying to kill us."  
"What people," asked the curious young American in the black hat.  
"As far as I can tell from this paper," she said with complete ignorance to the man in the black hat,   
"They are some sort of a society, or rather ancestors of a society who have survived all these years only to   
protect that stone."  
"I wonder what they're going to do now," Mike asked still trying futilely to force his way into the   
conversation.   
"So nobody really knows what the stones will do," asked the Texan now alienating his   
countryman as well.  
Lara nodded in agreement. It seemed like a miracle but the American seemed to finally   
understand. "And for the world's sake," she said slumping down in her seat, "I think we should leave well   
enough alone."  
"Well where's the fun in that," chimed the second American once again trying pull himself into   
the conversation.   
The young lady now carefully rolled the parchment up and replaced it into her backpack which, by   
now, was hanging almost lifelessly from one arm. "Could you shoot him please," she asked Devon as   
cordially as she could.   
Mike wagged his finger happily in front of the young lady. Now that he had finally gotten some   
attention he hoped that he could get some respect out of her. "Temper temper," he said in the most   
sarcastic tone that he could draw out of himself, "Mr. Drake may not like that tone of voice."  
Croft glared at the man as if he had committed the most hideous crime of all time. "If I'm right,"   
she warned, "The entire world is going to be gone in a matter of hours so it won't make any difference   
what Drake likes and what he doesn't."  
"You worry too much," Devon chuckled from the other side, "If the world goes boom we'll never   
know it and if it doesn't we'll all be rich."  
In a flash the explorer's head was turned the other direction bestowing her ill-tempered gaze onto   
the other man. She was just about to question the legitimacy of his birth when, without any warning at all,   
the air was pierced by a small electronic beeping noise. Nervously, she looked around expecting to see a   
bomb smartly hidden somewhere inside the cabin. Much to her relief, however, it was nothing of the sort,   
only the alarm on Mike's wristwatch.   
"Ah, its time," he announced as he shut off the annoying beep.  
"Time for what," chimed the other two almost in unison.   
"Time," he continued, "for Miss Croft here to take a short nap." As he spoke he reached into the   
inside pocket of his jacket and removed a small black spectacle case.   
Inside was a syringe already filled and ready to be used. Carefully, Mike opened the box, picked   
up the needle and removed the plastic guard from the point. He then tapped the end and squirted a tiny bit   
of the chemical into the air to make sure that there was no problem with it. "This is just a little something to   
ensure that you don't find out all of our bosses secrets," he explained  
"Secrets like where the airport is," asked the explorer impertinently.  
"How'd you know about that," Devon hollered.  
"You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure it out," she explained folding her arms in front   
of her, "There is no way that this helicopter can make it to Israel. We're either going to have to land to   
refuel or to get an airplane."  
The two Americans look at each other in curious wonderment hoping beyond hope that the other   
would know what to do next. "Go ahead and do it," Devon finally yelled when he could think of nothing   
better.  
"Sorry, but I think I'll pass," remarked the young lady as Mike swabbed her arm, "somehow I   
don't fancy being asleep while you two yahoos are awake and have me handcuffed."  
"Don't tell me you don't trust us," Devon asked tapping the pistol in his belt with his index finger.  
The young lady leaned forward as far as she could until she was directly face to face with her   
nemesis. "I just don't want you to do anything that you might regret later on," she replied.  
"I promise we'll be perfect gentlemen," Mike smiled as he gently took hold of Miss Croft's arm.  
Immediately, she pulled back from the man as if he were a rattlesnake and prepared to clobber him   
at the same time. Before she could do any real harm to the man, however, Devon expediently deployed one   
of his stolen pistols and jammed it into the side of her face. "You're going to go to sleep now, he said   
sternly, "Whether you wake up or not is up to you."  
Lara sighed heavily at the ultimatum. Given the choice she had to choose life so that she could   
have a chance to stop Drake later on. "Alright she conceded slumping backward against the wall like a   
pouting teenager, "Go ahead. But either of you decide to try something I will kill you both."   
Now, for the second time, Mike grabbed the explorer's arm and, as gently as he could, inserted the   
needle into her flesh. Within seconds she began to feel extremely tired and after three huge yawns she   
finally succumbed to the chemical.  
When she finally opened her eyes again she was sitting on the ground in the middle of a small   
cave with her arms handcuffed around a tall wooden pillar behind her. Unlike the other caves she had been   
in previously, however, light in this one was very abundant. Just to her left an opening had been cut into   
the wall allowing a tidal wave of sunlight to intrude upon the granite floor. The wall directly in front of her   
was completely obscured by a large curtain which was between two posts. The only visible vestige of what   
lay behind it was a small corner of an aqua blue rock that stuck out of the top.  
Despite how groggy was the explorer immediately knew that she was in Israel and that her journey   
had come to an end. Here a ceremony of some sort would soon take place. The results of that ceremony,   
she was sure, were going to be disastrous.   
At that moment, a small group of people came whirling into the cave through the opening. They   
all seemed to be in some sort of a rage but at the time Lara was still too dazed to accurately discern what   
they were saying. All she could really make out of the whole mess was that one of them was Dr. Muselli   
who had been heading up the dig in Italy.  
He had, she suspected, been brought along for his expertise concerning some aspect of the ancient   
ceremony that they intended to pursue. In the midst of the whole discussion the archaeologist happened to   
look across the room at the young captive. That was all it took. As soon as he noticed that she was awake   
he ran off like a rocket, followed by his cohorts all the time, yelling for Drake.  
A few minutes later Devon walked in and he seemed to be in a far happier state than he had been   
before. This was obviously due to the fact that he gotten a chance to sleep and, although Lara didn't think   
it helped much, shower himself.   
In his belt he was still wore the young lady's prized pistols but they now they appeared to have   
been polished and cleaned so that the silver shone brightly in the sunlight so that the Texan entered the cave   
the reflection nearly blinded her for a moment.  
"Oh Devon, you shouldn't have," remarked the explorer sarcastically when she saw them.  
The man smiled heartily at his rival. Seeing her tied up made him feel lighter than air. At long last   
he had finally gotten the best of her and he intended to enjoy every minute of it. "Don't get any ideas   
missy," he ordered, "the boss will probably let you go when were all done here but until then he wants to   
make sure you don't get in the way."  
"Some how I don't believe you," she responded antagonistically. Her senses were slowly   
returning to normal and now that she knew where she was she wasn't about to believe a thing anybody   
said.  
"Too bad," snapped the other, "because you ain't got no choice."  
Lara's face now turned to stone. She looked more serious than she had ever looked before and   
even though she was handcuffed Devon's blood began to turn cold with fear. "Listen to me," she said in a   
low whisper, "I honestly don't know what's going to happen here but I do know that it's not going to be a   
good thing."  
"And how do you know that," retorted the American.  
"Think about dimwit," she yelled, "if this were a simple honest archeological dig would I be   
here…tied up? For that matter would you be here? Would there be so much gunfire and killing and trying   
pass off fake jewels."  
Devon shook his head at her and laughed. "You're just being paranoid," he said, "even if you can   
talk to the gods like your suppose to it ain't like that Scion thingy you was trying to get a while back. It   
like what that Natla gal was up to."  
"Actually," the young lady replied, "it's a lot like that. Drake won't be able to revive Atlantis but   
he now has the ability to talk to the gods. Who knows what he will do with such ability.  
"A very good question Miss Croft," came a voice from just outside the cave.  
"Ah Mr. Drake," she answered as the young executive made his way into the cave, "Long time no   
see. Have you killed anyone in cold blood yet today?"  
"Well, not yet," replied the man after a moment of thought, "but in about twenty minutes that may   
change." With a great deal of excitement he motioned through the cave door for Dr. Muselli to come in   
which he did quite hastily bringing with him the three recovered stones.  
When he had received them Drake strolled proudly over to the curtain. "Gentlemen," he began,   
"and you too Miss Croft. Allow me to present to you the greatest archeological and theological   
find…ever."  
With that he tugged on one corner of the curtain sending it floating to the ground making visible   
the wall behind. It was almost totally covered by jewels each exactly the same as the three that Lara had   
been looking for. The only difference between any of them was that each of them bore its own distinctive   
mark on the front.  
The one exception to all of these was one very large jewel that sat majestically in the midst of all   
the others. It was almost five times as big as any of the others and had no distinguishing mark about it what   
so ever. All the other stones that surrounded it were identified by an engraved picture each one representing   
a different religion but this one was blank.  
Almost immediately her mind was thrown back to a story she had heard years before in college. It   
wasn't of particular interest to her at the time but now it seemed strangely relevant. It was about the Greece   
during the time of a great epidemic. The people built shrines to all of their gods hoping to stop it but   
nothing happened. That is until they built one last shrine marked only, "To the unknown god."  
That's when she noticed something else strange. There seemed to a number of religions absent   
from the group. She searched the entire wall from one side to the other as well as top to bottom to be sure   
but still she could not locate them at all.   
Suddenly it all made sense. The ancient sect may have believed that all the gods existed but they   
certainly didn't believe they were equal. They wanted to get closer to one particular god…literally. More   
over, at least one of the three stones was carefully hidden behind a whole secret underground society   
indicating, at least to her, that something bad was about to happen.  
"Wait a moment Drake," Lara called out in earnest.  
The businessman turned around with a look of irritation in his eyes. "Miss Croft," he interjected,   
"I really don't have time to listen to your ramblings anymore."  
"I just wanted to say that I think you've overlooked something," the prisoner pointed out.  
Drake smiled at the young lady and sighed annoyingly. "Yes, thank you," he said arrogantly, "but   
you are not the only one here who is expert on the ancient world." With that he quickly snatched two of the   
three stones and jammed them into two empty slots located directly underneath the huge jewel.  
"So you are saying that you do know that at least three religions aren't represented then," Lara   
interrupted again, "and it doesn't bother you at all why they aren't there?"  
Once again the man turned around to face his captive. "Oh but they are there Miss Croft," he   
answered taking hold of the last artifact.  
"Somehow," answered the explorer, "that frightens me more."  
Devon stared down at her with almost a quiet reverence hoping to pickup on at least a little of   
what was happening. To his dismay, he thought he had. Lara's testimony to the fact that she was   
frightened about something began to work its way around his head. He considered all the trials he had been   
in with the young lady, as well as against her, and all at once decided that he knew her better than he knew   
his current boss and if she were frightened about something than there was major cause for concern.   
"Maybe we should listen to her," he said in a slightly reluctant voice.  
Drake silently shot an evil glance across the room at his lackey to prove that all the delays were   
seriously aggravating him. "Drop it," he ordered scornfully, "or I'll have you locked up too you miserable   
dirt mucker. I'm sick of all your little theories and ideas. You people think you're so smart don't you?   
Well, in a minute you'll see what real intelligence is."  
All of a sudden, the Texan was not a happy camper. Drake had not only just insulted his   
profession but he was also ignoring the opinions of Miss Lara Croft's, an action that not even he, as her   
greatest rival, would dare to undertake. The fact was that even though they hated each other they were cut   
from the same cloth. True, they had their differences and their reasons for doing the same thing were   
almost never the identical but one thing was for sure, he trusted her far more than Drake.  
It was clear, then, what he needed to do. With the precision of a well skilled magician Devon   
reached into his pocket and took hold of the key to the explorer's handcuffs. Then, with knowing glance to   
the prisoner, he dropped it silently onto the cave floor.  
Without hesitation the young lady snatched it up as best she could and inserted it into the slot on   
her manacles. Unfortunately, it was too late for, at that very moment, Drake shoved the last stone defiantly   
into place on the wall.   
As soon as he did the sunlight that had been pouring into the cave all morning suddenly faded and   
was instantaneously replaced by a thick swarming darkness. It was almost as if an eclipse had   
unexpectedly appeared and encompassed the whole world. Quickly, Devon pulled out his pocket flashlight   
and began to shine it around.  
Before he could truly see anything, though, the whole cavern began to shake around them. At first   
it was only a small vibration sending small clouds of dust floating off of the ceiling to the ground. A   
moment later the shaking turned more violent sending small chunks of rock hurtling to ground.  
"What's going on," Drake called to his associate.  
"I'm not sure," Muselli answered, "I've never heard of -"  
Before he could finish his sentence, however, the earthquake escalated once again sending a large   
chunk of rock on top of the archeologist burying him alive.  
"I was trying to tell you this would happen," Croft remarked as she rose to her feet and reclaimed   
her pistols from Devon's belt.  
Drake whirled around to see who was speaking to him. "How'd you get loose," he asked when   
noticed Lara standing confidently in front of him.  
"Never mind that," she yelled over the now ear-splitting rumbling, "right now I think we should   
find a way to get out of here before we're all killed."  
"What do you mean, we," Devon exclaimed as he rushed in front of the young lady, "I say we   
leave him here."  
Half ignoring him for the moment Lara slipped off her backpack and made her way to the wall   
where all of the jewels were now inserted. "You're one to talk," she called back as she removed the three   
stones from the wall and placed them into her pack, "up until ten minutes ago you would have back him to   
the hilt."   
"Up until ten minutes ago," rebutted the other, "I thought this would work."  
Slipping the bag over her arm the young lady looked back at her one time adversary. "Ah, but it is   
working," she remarked, "Just not the way anyone expected it to."  
Suddenly Drake whipped his head around so that he could see the explorer more clearly. Her face   
was stern and calculating offering no sign of levity what so ever. "What do you mean by that," he asked in   
an almost whiney voice.  
Just then, the intense rumbling ceased as if someone had simply hit an off button. Lara smiled at   
her accomplishment. She didn't know if, as the legend suggested, the whole world was truly in danger but   
she knew that a moment ago she had been and that was all that mattered.  
"Haven't you ever heard of the tower of babble," she asked smugly scanning the room for a way   
of escape.   
Unfortunately, there was only way that she could think of and it wasn't extraordinarily pleasing to   
her. She was staring directly at the wooden pillar that she had been handcuffed around just minutes before.   
The very top of it, she observed, seemed to be the only thing holding the ceiling in place.   
It would not, however, stand up for much longer for with every passing second the wooden beam   
creaked and groaned underneath its heavy load. "I'm sure that this is a bad plan," the explorer told herself   
as she deployed her pistols and took aimed at the very top of the post, "but it's a better chance than staying   
here."  
Immediately Drake moved forward in fear. "What are you doing," he yelled at the explorer,   
"you'll kill us all."  
"Perhaps," Lara answered coldly, "shall we find out." Before he could say anything else she fired   
a volley of bullets directly at the top of the wooden beam splintering it, along with the ceiling above it, in   
several places. A moment later a few particles of dust floated peacefully to the ground. This was soon   
followed by a few small bits of rock and before long large chunks began to once again plummet to the   
ground.  
  
Suddenly, a rush of fear gripped Mr. Drake. He was sure that they whole roof of the cave was   
coming down on top of all of them. He had to do something. Like a rocket, he shot past Croft before she   
could stop him and threw himself onto the wooden plank as if he were hugging a long lost friend.  
"Drake," Lara yelled calmly, "get back here."  
"I can't," he yelled back, "I have to save us."  
"Leave him," exclaimed Devon rushing up to his former adversary's side.  
The young lady tossed him a quick menacing glance for his statement but immediately turned   
back to businessman in front of her. "Listen to me," she reasoned, "the only way to safety is to let that   
beam fall.  
But it was too late. The damage was already done. As he stood frantically trying to steady the   
collapsing structure, bigger and bigger boulders dislodged themselves from their home above and   
plummeted to the earth below. One of these large stones found its mark directly on top of Drake's head   
sending him falling limply to the ground. As soon as that happened the beam fell to one side and he was   
covered with a ton of rocks and dirt.   
Once again a bright shaft of sunlight flooded into the cavern from behind a brilliantly blue sky.   
The dark eclipse had vanished completely leaving everything just as it was before.  
Miss Lara Croft shook her head. "Poor man," she said, "I guess he'll really get to talk to God   
now."  
"I still don't get it," Devon asked staring at the wall of jewels, "what was this tower of babble you   
were talking about the?"  
The young lady solemnly moved toward the new pile of rubble. "It's from the Bible," she   
explained as she picked through the rocks and rubble in front of her hoping for a faint sign that the young   
executive underneath might still be alive, "A bunch of people once tried to build a tower to get to heaven.   
God made them speak in all different languages so no one would be able to finish the tower. I think the   
same concept may have been at work here as well."  
The Texan turned so that he was once again facing Lara. "So you think this was all man made just   
so a bunch of people could to talk to the gods," he asked.  
"Not gods," she corrected the God. While the others exist he is the most powerful and just like the   
tower, bad things happened"  
"How do you know that god is more powerful than the others," gasp the other.  
Croft stood up and made her way back toward Devon. "Speculation," she answered, "after all   
there are three religions built around him. And even if he's not, the fact is that man was not meant to talk   
directly to any god. If they want something I suspect we'll know."  
The American shook his head in wonderment. "So what do we do now," he asked.  
"You can do what you want," answered the other, "I have to find a way to get a hold of MI-6 and   
tell them to stop worrying. Then I have to destroy one of these stones, so that no one can try to activate this   
thing again, give the Egyptian stone back to the museum it was stolen from, and then find a place for the   
third in my trophy room. But first, I think I'll go get some food. I'm starving for some reason."  
  
The End  
  



End file.
